10-14-2006 Cruisetoberfest IV

[jeanneg]

jeninpa: I have been on 4 other Disney cruises and have never once been swimming on the ship itself (although I will do it on Castaway Cay and during excursions); I also try to NOT make food the focal point of my entire vacation (even tho' it is yummy). That said, there are more activities going on than you can possibly imagine. Depending on your activity level there is always something for everyone. DCL always has lots of lectures from guest speakers, all sorts of classes (winetasting , cooking, crafts, linedancing, etc) Some you can do with kids, some are adults only. They have trivia contests and karoake; an internet cafe/coffee shop and a quiet reading/puzzle/game room. There is lots of entertainment in the main theatre plus smaller shows in the bars and lounges (again some suitable for children, others not). Plus, they have movies running practically all day long. I can't address your question about childcare because my kids are older and we never used it, but i'm sure some others would know that answer. Trust me, you will have more things to do than you can possibly schedule in one day and if you want to just veg out and do nothing that's fine also. If you pm me your personal email, I will send you some links to sites that show menus, daily activities, photos of the ship, etc. I don't think I can post it here because it's not allowed.
cd & cm: Please do not worry about fitting in. We are a very diverse group with different nationalities, ages, races, creeds, and definitely shapes and sizes! We have different interests and activity levels but we're all very nice warm accepting individuals. In fact, the only way you would not fit would be if you are mean and nasty, because that's the one thing none of us are. You can do lots of stuff with the group or you can totally go your own way. Nobody forces you to participate because quite frankly, it's your vacation and nobody really cares how you plan to enjoy it. I have sailed knowing nobody and i have sailed with over 100 internet "friends" and the later is so much more fun. Even if you don't hang with anyone, it's always nice to see a familiar face on deck or in one of the lounges. And in terms of the total passengers, we're really not that big a group (less than 10%, I would think) so we don't have a monopoly on any of the activities. Try us, you'll like us!

 

[cdnmickeylover]

Jen - I believe that you have to book times to put your youngest into Flounders. We don't have little ones though so I could be wrong.

There are tons of activities on board -- Kim & I had a blast the last cruise learning how to juggle. I think the kids did better than the adults. We also learned how to draw Mickey although my Mickey was only identified as Mickey because I labelled my drawing!

cd & cm - I'll just echo what everyone else has said. We are a diverse group and you only have to interact as much as you want. Some of us have cruised before together and some of us haven't. If you tell us a little bit more about yourselves it'll be easier to see who's closest to you in terms of family composition.

Fiona

 

[wendym]

Ditto what jeanneg says!
Wendy

 

[BigRed1]

Hi Big red....just saw your post and realized you aren't sailing with us this year.....boo-hoo! I'm so sad! (Sorry, so many people that jumped ship are still active on our boards that it's hard to keep track of who's still with us)

Happy Monday everyone!

I'm sorry we can't cruise with you guys this year, thats why I have tried not to interject to much as not to confuse anyone. Every now and then though, I just have to throw my 2 cents worth in. But I still like keeping up with my CF friends. We had so much fun on CFIII, we were heartbroken we couldn't go on CFIV. We are still hopeful for a CFV! Because of school schedules,(DW is a ) our cruise window this year was the first 2 weeks of October. Its to bad too. We have, at this point, 37 people from our hometown, not to mention the 20 or so Diser's not from here, going on what we call our Latitude Adjustment Cruise on the Oct. 7 Magic....that would be a HUGE CFIV, huh. We will be getting off the ship the day you all get on, so maybe we'll run into some of you at the Radisson, or maybe breakfast at Grills before the shuttle starts running. Oh well, maybe next year!
Allen

 

[Galactic Emperor]

This is exactly what I meant by not fitting in. I guess I will have to see what may be available for excursions, etc. What I am unsure of is that there will be large groups of people taking over the activites and leaving little place for people who are not in the group.

I have a couple of TAs looking into the rates and will be deciding by the end of the week.

Ditto what the otthers said and just to rule out a misunderstanding:

We book our own excursions, which is far less expensive than doing it through DCL. So most probably only a few of our group will occupy spaces on the official excursions
So far we've got two different tours at Costa Maya, some of us will go scuba-diving and/or snorkeling in Cozumel, some will do the Dolphin Encounter.
The only place where we haven't set up anything is of course Castaway Cay.

Just see our group as a source for info where new friends can be found. NOTHING here is mandatory - as posted before: We're on vacation

 

[jeanneg]

Post here all you want, Allen! I'm rapidly approaching the age where EVERYTHING confuses me, but that's my problem! And besides if I want to know who's sailing with us all I have to do is consult the great list Eric put together. Wendy and I sailed together in August of 2004 and the thread for that cruise still becomes active every now and then. I'm already thinking ahead to 2007 and the rumored cruises in Europe. It's probably going to mean missing a huge chunk of work, but if we begin to plan now, hopefully we can swing it.

 

[padisneyfan]

Post here all you want, Allen! I'm rapidly approaching the age where EVERYTHING confuses me, but that's my problem! And besides if I want to know who's sailing with us all I have to do is consult the great list Eric put together. Wendy and I sailed together in August of 2004 and the thread for that cruise still becomes active every now and then. I'm already thinking ahead to 2007 and the rumored cruises in Europe. It's probably going to mean missing a huge chunk of work, but if we begin to plan now, hopefully we can swing it.

Not only a huge chunk of work, but an even bigger hunk of greenbacks.

Nancy

 

[cd&cm]

Ditto what the otthers said and just to rule out a misunderstanding:

We book our own excursions, which is far less expensive than doing it through DCL. So most probably only a few of our group will occupy spaces on the official excursions
So far we've got two different tours at Costa Maya, some of us will go scuba-diving and/or snorkeling in Cozumel, some will do the Dolphin Encounter.
The only place where we haven't set up anything is of course Castaway Cay.

Just see our group as a source for info where new friends can be found. NOTHING here is mandatory - as posted before: We're on vacation

Oh, then that is good to know. I am doubtfull I will be on this cruise. I saw something yesterday that DCL will be in Hawaii next year, so I will wait and see about that. I think October would be too cold anyway.

Thanks for the information on this thread. Have a good day.

 

[Galactic Emperor]

Not only a huge chunk of work, but an even bigger hunk of greenbacks.

Nancy

And when it comes to buying Euros to pay your bills around the Mediterranean it really starts getting expensive

 

[jeanneg]

Oh, then that is good to know. I am doubtfull I will be on this cruise. I saw something yesterday that DCL will be in Hawaii next year, so I will wait and see about that. I think October would be too cold anyway.

My husband's a hot-blooded Latino.......I can handle it!

 

[salbythec]

Just dropping by to say HI Pete is taking me away on quick birthday trip!!!

SAllyann

 

[fridayfun]

Have an awesome time!

 

[Galactic Emperor]

Happy Birthday, Sallyann

 

[padisneyfan]

Lucky you Sally.

Nancy

 

[cd&cm]

Wow, I just heard from my TA, rumours are just that. She has convinced me that this will be a good cruise for us.

So it will be me, my dh, and my DS 9. We will have a Cat 11, don't know what room number yet. Now I just have to wait for all the info from the cruse line.

Thanks again for all your information here. I hope to meet some of you on the ship.

 

[jeanneg]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Sally Ann!

 

[Jeninpa]

When you guys say you book excursions and not through DCL what websites do you go to? We are especially interested in the swimming with the dolphins (the most hands on one that lasts a bit) and the hands on sting ray one. Could you pm me with the links maybe? And any personal experience anybody might have with either of these 2 excursions I'd love to hear all about it!!! Thanks!


Jen

 

[jeanneg]

I did a great sting ray excursion when we went to Grand Cayman (not on this itinerary) It was with Capt. Marvin's and we booked it on our own. There were about 20 of us and nearly all were from DIS board. I think they do stingrays at CC now. it might be worth booking through Disney just for the sheer convenience of it.

 

[padisneyfan]

Jen--- I sent you a pm.

Here is a link to the dolphin encounter in Cozumel.

http://www.dolphindiscovery.com/cozumel/default.asp

 

[Jeninpa]

Has anyone ever had photo's put on a cd at Shutters? I was wondering about the cost? It says the cost per print would be $0.40 but no mention of the cost for cd's. I am taking alot of cards for my camera but would feel better if I also put the pics on a cd! Thanks!

Jen