11/05/05 Western - Who's with Us?

[MYTINK1967]

Hello, this is our first cruise, it's for my dd5th b-day . we are in washington state... it seems like everyone else is from the east coast.. any tips on what to bring for the kids? ds 7 dd soon to be 5 and dh 36? what kind of clothes? thank you

 

[Travelingmice]

I was just going to print my plan out and thought let me just check what's available for Palo and Brunch for Thursday came up!!! I'ts never been a option for me since the first day I was able to book at 90 days out!!

Life is now in order DS got his kindergarten class assignment, all Palo options and excursions are booked. Nothing to do now but revise the packing list at wait!

 

[Lauri]

I'm so jealous, travelingmice. I keep checking, and I would love to get brunch on Thursday--it's DH's birthday. Oh well, I'll kepp checking.

 

[Scouter]

I'm so jealous too! I would love to try Palo someday, but am only
traveling with DS15 and cannot take him in there. Someday
maybe I'll find my Prince Charming to take with me on a Disney
Cruise!

 

[Dizma]

....I'm sending you a pm.

 

[Tay N Evie's Mom]

Travelingmice, you may have got my Palos brunch that I cancelled. I booked brunch Thurs, but saw on Barbs website (in the navigators) that the seafood buffet at Parrot Cay is on Thurs. We love seafood, so I cancelled and rebooked brunch for Monday. I booked Palos dinner for Tuesday, the night of the Dining Around the World in the main restaurants. I didn't want to book both of the Palos meals so close, but we didn't care for that dinner too much last time. I booked our Rasul for Thurs at 11am. I figured after the spa, DH and I can go to Parrot Cay for lunch. Even though this is my 4th cruise, this will only be the 2nd and 3rd times dining at Palos. DS wouldn't stay in the kids clubs too long on our 1st 2 cruises, so I had to cancel our ressies on those cruises. We finally got to dine there on cruise #3, but that was 3 1/2 years ago. Now, I'll have to pry my kids little hands from the pirate ship in the clubs in order to get them to leave. We still need to decide on our excursions. It's been hectic in our house for the last month, but now that the kids are in school and getting to bed at a decent time, DH and I will have time to talk. My kids and I made a countdown chain and started it on Wed, which is 70 days from when we leave (we're going to WDW for 3 nights before the cruise). They get so excited about ripping off a link and make a big deal about it at breakfast, and the one who's day it isn't gets to pick their Flintstone vitamin 1st-7 year olds are so silly !

 

[Travelingmice]

T&E's Mom - Well if it was yours, Thanks! Since DS has failed to stay in the kids club on any of the 3 cruises he's taken w/DCL, DH has never made it to brunch at Palo's and we have always had to stager Palo's with my parents. Here's to hoping and praying he will stay and play with the other children.

 

[Scouter]

Hello, this is our first cruise, it's for my dd5th b-day . we are in washington state... it seems like everyone else is from the east coast.. any tips on what to bring for the kids? ds 7 dd soon to be 5 and dh 36? what kind of clothes? thank you

Hi! Welcome aboard! There are lots of tips for what you will want to
bring along throughout these boards. Search around.
I do know that the weather in November where we're going is still
going to be in the 80's so think summer!

The best thing I did before my last cruise and before this one was to buy
the Passporter Guide to the Disney Cruise Line by Jennifer and Dave Marx. It has lots of great information on it. I got mine through Amazon.com.
It also gets me excited about the trip every time I browse through it.

Rose

 

[magmom]

I also got the Passporter guide and it's terrific!!! It has a very complete packing list and lots of great tips and suggestions. I also got mine at Amazon, but Borders carries it also.

 

[3swimmers]

Hi all!

I, too got the passporter's guide, and also the Birnbaum Offical guide to Disney Cruises. I love to research stuff! We are all starting to get excited about this cruise, especially since this is our first one ever. We bought some snorkel equipment, and the kids want to start practicing. We will be driving down from Upstate NY (couldn't find any great deals on airfare), so we will be able to take more stuff. I will have to be careful because I tend to overpack! I have also gone on the internet to some of the websites listed in the passporter and read alot of cruise reviews - It gets you more excited about the cruise, and sometimes you get some good tips. Claire

 

[Lauri]

The kids are back in school, and I have too much time on my hands . I was searching our cruise on disney cruiseline.com today, and there are a ton of staterooms open (at least 42, but the site only lists 8 per category). Is this normal at about 2 months out? Will we have an empty cruise? On the other hand, the price of our cabin had gone up $1800 since we booked in January.

 

[MYTINK1967]

Thanks everyone, I ordered the passporter, still waiting not so patiently for it to get here....I bought the Birnbaum's in the book store.....we are flying in from seattle, no way on earth could we drive .....the gas would cost more than the cruise...I cant wait to go!! has anyone made their door signs yet?

 

[Scouter]

Oh, I haven't made mine yet, but I will. That will be fun!

I'm wondering if the airlines will contact us and raise our airfares due
to increased gas prices. 2 years ago when we went to WDW and 3
nights on the Wonder, I got a refund from WDW for lowered airfare
due to lowered gas prices at the time of flight. I bought the airfare
through a package deal with Disney, this time I bought seperate with
JetBlue.

 

[3swimmers]

You guys keep mentioning door signs? Is this a cruise tradition that I am clueless about because we've never been on a cruise? What kind of information do you put on the sign? I am wondering about how full the cruise will be since school will be in session. I am kind of hoping it won't be too crowded, yet, those Palo reservations seemed to be gone in a flash, so someone has got to be on the boat! Only 2 more months to go! Claire

 

[Scouter]

The door signs are made for fun to identify yourself to other travelers and
DIS'ers. With your family's names on them or your DIS user names, photos of past trips, favorite Disney characters, home town, etc.
Do a thread search for door signs. I've seen a few and they show
photos of some really creative ones DIS'ers have made.

I've never done this before myself, but I would like to for this cruise, it
looks like fun.

 

[Tay N Evie's Mom]

Today I booked Capt Marvins 2 hour stingray tour from 11:15am-1:15pm. I know some of you booked the 3 hr tour, but DH isn't crazy about swimming, so it was 2 hr or nothing. We did Capt Marvins on our last DCL and liked the personalized service. On Key West, we're going to do it ourselves and go to either the Pirate Soul, Shipwreck Historium or Aquarium. We did the Train Tour last time and our kids were bored silly. On Cozumel, we're going to wait and see. We booked the Tulum Ruins and Beach Break on our last cruise and hated it. We were so worn out by the time we got to Cozumel we wished we would have just walked around the port for a few hours and got back on the ship. Now that the excursions are done, I've got to start on ideas for our door sign. I was reading the door sign thread for awhile, but it's gotten so long that I just gave up. Before we know it we'll be packing and starting our doc dances!!!

 

[annb65]

We are!!! hubby, me a 12yr old and a 7 year old.. We are getting really excited!!!!

 

[annb65]

Hi All! can somone show me what all the codes(DS..)mean. thanks

 

[Lauri]

Welcome Ann! The codes are DH=dear husband, DS=dear son, DD=dear daughter, etc. Just aske if there are any others you need.

 

[annb65]

Thanks Lauri.. I am a new to this. Is there a time and place to meet people from these boards prior to the cruise or on it?