10/02/04 Antigua Cruise

[jeanneg]

My son received his masters degree in cinematography from the AFI on Wednesday....we are very proud of him! (tired and poor right now, but still proud). It's been a whirlwind week with most of the time spent traveling. Everytime my husband drives on those LA freeways I freak out......yet we were remarking that we didn't once see a "crack-up" the entire three days. (You can't drive 30 minutes in Raleigh without spotting some sort of a fender bender!) We flew into the more civilized Burbank airport and took a little side trip past the huge Disney headquarters there. That building with the Seven Dwarfs is just amazing to see!
We also saw the new concert hall in LA which is also quite a spectacle.

Mary: DH and I just LOVE Cat Stevens........we were so disappointed when he stopped making "records" (just dated myself......!) I picked up one of his greatest hit CDs off of a bargain rack a few months ago and play it all the time!

Fiona: don't get me started on golf.....I am presently taking lessons........this will make the seventh instructor in 12 years!!!!!!
My girlfriend picked up a club for the first time last fall and she is AMAZING! I am amazingly bad! If I had invested all the money I spent on lessons and purchased DVC points we'd spend half the year at Disney! Maybe some people just CAN'T learn......like to tell myself I have "other talents"!

 

[cdnmickeylover]

Oops just realized that my DS will turn 18 before my new nephew is born! (his birthday is the 11th and my SIL has never been early!)

Co-worker sent around a putting program so that "we can practice our putting for the tournament". Is this a hint??? She loves golf and was actually just in Florida golfing -- they only spent 2 days at Disney but 4 days golfing!! Nutty for sure.

So far today the phone has not rung. This is a very good thing but can't possibly last much longer.

Fiona

 

[twhipple]

DH and I love golf but never get to play in the last three years. Since August 2001 we have played 2 rounds of 9. But that doesn't include while cruising. We always enter the chip-it tourneys. I placed 2nd on our first cruise, DH placed first last year and 2nd in the putting tourney. We won't pay for it though with excursions.

 

[padisneyfan]

jeanneg--- Congratulations to your son on getting his master degree. So will we be seeing his name soon on any film credits. I guess it means you will be sitting in the theater after the movie reading all those credits.


Now that all my other trips are completed until the cruise, I guess I should start to look at airfares, hotels, car rentals and possible excursions. I see that Oct 11 and 12th the Beach Boys are going to be at Epcot for the Wine and Food Festival so may have to extend my post cruise visit so we can see them.

Back to work.

Nancy

 

[ARLO1]

Nancy:

Which Beach Boys tour - the one with Mike Love or Al Jardine?
I believe both men tour under the Beach Boys name. Isnt it a shame since there were so many losses/tragedies within the group that these 2 men cant keep it together...

I also love Cat Stevens and occasionally pickup the cd and play it...

I went to play bingo last night. 4 women at my table won games. One woman won 3 times for a total winnings above $700. It would have been great if she would have shared the wealth...

Arlene

 

[fridayfun]

I feel like the cruise is closer than ever! I have never been to a Prom or formal event so I went with a girlfriend and got - as she said - "One hot number!". I am sooo excited, but told DH he can't see it until unveiling night on the cruise! I won't be the only one doing the whole formal, long dress will I? I want to look good, but have a problem with sticking out in a crowd. Hope everyone is doing well, we are flooded here in Detroit. GO PISTONS!!!

 

[two-foxes]

Denise-

I got a wine colored long "slinky" satin dress (got it off ebay, so didn't try it on first). Tim thinks it is a bit..ahem...much. But I have to say I like it...so I will bring it, but whether or not I will wear it will depend on how I am feeling (or how much I am eating!) But regardless, dress up as much as you want! It is a special trip...after all it isn't like we go on a DCL cruise everyday and are requested to wear formal attire! We will love it!

By the way, did you guys get scuba certified?

 

[cdnmickeylover]

Last year for formal night I wore a floor length forrest green dress so go for it.

We got a new photocopier at work and the training session for how to use it was an hour long! I missed some because of phone calls but the copier is amazing in terms of the different things it can do. The best part for me is that it will scan documents and then email them to me. Much better than our old scanner.

Back to work.

Fiona

 

[padisneyfan]

Arlene--- Here is the information I got off the internet.

Mike Love has licensed the Beach Boys' name for his tour, which also features Bruce Johnston. Supporting performers include Randell Kirsch, John Cowsill, Tim Bonhomme, Chris Farmer, Scott Totten, and Mike Kowalski. (See also the BB Band website.).
They have alot of tour dates listed and Disney is one of them

Al Jardin's group is not listed as Beach Boys anymore and he only has 2 tour dates listed.

Hope they are as good as Paul Revere and the Raiders were.

Weekend coming up.



Nancy

 

[jeanneg]

To all the young, beautiful ladies on our cruise: I say just "go for it!" If I were 20 years younger and 20+ pounds lighter I'd be wearing a hot little item too! Flaunt it while you can........ all the "matrons" will enjoy seeing you and being able to reminisce way back when..... Now, as for my formal attire, ahem, let's just say I like comfort. No apologies, no excuses, I've earned the right to wear what feels good and damnit (can I say that?), I will. I swear by Chicos......it's gotten me through formal and semi-formal night every time I've cruised. Target just came out with a very inexpensive version of the travelwear collection and although it's not the same fabric weight, it's not bad at all. In fact, I just took it with me to LA and it held up very nicely and took up practically no space in my bag. Hubby will also be somewhat understated......he'll bring a suit for formal night and Palo but will probably wear a golf shirt and dockers the rest of the time.

 

[jeanniec]

Talk about dressing up -- we went on a 10-day Western Carribean Celebrity cruise a couple of years ago. 3 formal nights, 3 semi-formal nights, 3 informal nights and one casual night. Sam really hated it! I brought a long black skirt and different sparkly tops for the formal nights, don't even remember what I wore for semi-formal. That's why we're back on Disney. Celebrity is a nice cruise line, but a little too formal for us. And, most of all, we just missed the happy Disney atmosphere.

 

[two-foxes]

Originally posted by jeanneg
I swear by Chicos......it's gotten me through formal and semi-formal night every time I've cruised.

You are the second person who has said that....one of the girls I work with swears by it as well, and she has such a good style. Okay, it is about time I check it out....they just opened one near us a few months ago!

 

[cdnmickeylover]

Ok I guess we are never going on a celebrity cruise. That is way too many suit days for Jim! Two on the cruise he can handle but not every night.

Off to London for a Dismeet this afternoon. The weather looks nice although it is not as hot as it was earlier in the week.

Have a great weekend everyone.

Fiona

 

[fridayfun]

Jill - no Coki beach dive, will be doing the snorkeling part. Got diagnosed with allergies AND asthma (that explains the difficulty with snorkling last time!), so Chris agreed to wait until I've been on my new medicine for a while and see how I do. BUMMER!
Plus, I thank you for the Ebay idea (DH doesn't!) now I'm looking for accessories. Also, have to look up Chico's. Don't have one here, but maybe online?
Everyone have a great rest of the weekend, I have to go enjoy my LAST McDonald's for a while, DH wants to be in better disney cruise shape, so I am going on South beach diet with him! Denise

 

[jeanniec]

Denise -- I just bought the South Beach Diet book today. Started Atkins a couple of weeks ago and did fairly well. Got tired of bacon and eggs for breakfast or a cheesburger without the bun of course. Yes, that is for breakfast. I had looked at South Beach before Atkins. I think it's supposed to be a little more liberal (or strict?) than Atkins. I'll read thru the book tonight and see if we are interested. Had some sugarfree Jello at work yesterday & it was really delicious. My first dessert in a couple of weeks. So I bought a couple of boxes of Jello today and some whipped cream to top it which is legal on Atkins (I think). Don't know about South Beach. I usually never eat dessert, but I have been craving it now that I know I can't eat it. Good luck to you and Chris!

 

[fridayfun]

After first 2 weeks it is supposed to be more liberal. We'll see! Chris wants to rent less of a tux for the cruise, so a-dieting we will go! Well, time to go to bed and dream of BIG ships and Conch Coolers! denise

 

[papa]

No tuxedoes for me or my "twin brother" Art. Wearing a tie is bad enough Everything here is slowly returning to normal. Saturn Vue is in the shop for the ac again. Guess that I will have to invoke the lemon law. Kathy and I are going to take a refresher course since it has been a while since we were certified for scuba.

Glad to hear about the "free" soda onboard the magic. Mike

 

[fridayfun]

I think Chris would prefer no tux, but he also doesn't have a suit (yet) for a nice dinner. He wants to wait to buy one as he doesn't like his current shape! So Cruiseline formal wear here we come!

 

[Twinave]

My DH will not be wearing a tux this year either. I talked him into it the first year, so I should count my blessings. He will wear a suit on formal night, and the kids and I will get dressed up. I will hit the consignment shops a few weeks before we sail.
Took the kids to see Shrek 2 last night. It was very good. Lots of sneaky adult humor.
Have the day off today! Thinking of taking the kids to the beach. Let them play while I finish off James Patterson's 3rd Degree.
I found a place to get DD certified to dive. We will sign her up in the next week or two. Then she can join her dad and Eric and Anja and the rest of you divers at Coki Beach.
Got to run, laundry to fold, and beds to make. Then maybe hit the beach.
Later, Avé

 

[Viking]

Hi Folks,

Ze Germans are back

Before I get into a short trip report, we'd like to tell you how sad we were when we heard of President Reagans passing away Strange coincidence: In our Sunday newspaper there was a short article remembering him and his disease - Two days later we got the news about his death On Friday we had bad weather and thus were able to see the live-transmission of the memorial service in Washington Cathedral. We owe this man a lot over here: Our East-German countrymen may have torn down the wall, but he gave it the first big push, leaving some mighty cracks in it

And now a happier topic:
We spent 10 very lazy after a uneventful drive up north. Unfortunately we could only enjoy two days at the beach basking in the sun as we had a lot of rain, wind and low temps. We only once dipped a toe into the water as it still was only 16°C/61°F But the weather was good enough for a 4-mile-run before breakfast every other day.
Then we spent a wonderful day at Hamburg's Zoological Gardens, went to Lübeck to watch the new Harry Potter-movie.
We read a lot, played some videogames - We did a trip back in time as I had dug out my ancient SuperNintendo The TV in my in-laws holiday-condo only has five channels. The condo is used only 6 or 8 weeks per year and so it would be a waste of money to have cable service. But the SNES was our sixth channel
Today we had a dreadful return trip: We needed a good eight hours Usually we need five to six, but there was so much traffic on the Autobahn, that at some point we just left it and drove about 150 miles on backroads. We weren't any faster, but we could drive continuously enjoying the landscape instead of stop-and-go every 10 miles. Unfortunately we were so late that we couldn't take part in the elections for the European Parliament - The first time we missed an election since our 18th birthdays.
OK, that should be all for now - Have to check about 10 pages of the thread

PS: Michael Schumacher just won the Grand Prix of Canada.
PPS: Just saw the tux-poll: I'll wear mine, but have to have it altered before the cruise. I lost some more weight, and now my tux doesn't fit me anymore.