11/06/04 Western New and Improved Official Thread!

[scottygirl]

Fellow Cruisers,

How is everybody doing? I felt like this thread needed bumped back up to page one. Is anyone nervous about these horrible hurricanes? I hope the hurricane gods get it out of their system before November. I feel awful for the people in Florida, Haiti, Grenada and Grand Cayman. My aunt lost her home in Ft. Pierce, she and my Uncle are fine though.

On an upbeat note my counter is about to be in the 30's!! Soon we will be looking for our documents. Let's post when they are received.

TTFN,

Jackie

 

[Mindymom]

Jackie,

So glad to hear that your Aunt and Uncle are OK. So sorry to hear about their home.

Yes, very nervous about these hurricanes! I just feel horrible for everyone involved and those cruisers that are scheduled during these horrible storms. It's as if they will never end.

What is everybodies thoughts on Grand Cayman? Sounds like there is a possibility of going to Costa Maya instead? Me and the kids were looking forward to swimming with the Stingrays.

We'll be happy either way, this will be our very first cruise and we're more than excited.

Mindy

 

[sjcubedofct]

Our departure is approaching rapidly! My son and I were just chatting about how close it is... really, we've got Columbus Day, Halloween and then days later we head to the airport! It really made me realize that once my mother in law departs next Tuesday, I'm breaking out the suitcases and starting to pack. No sense putting summer clothes in the attic, may as well put them directly in the suitcases and be ready to go.

The hurricane season has been a brutal one, no doubt. But Paula and I have decided that no matter which ports we end up visiting, we'll just be happy to be someplace warm where they serve frozen drinks and speak with accents of any type. Heck, we'd be just as happy to stay on the boat! Can you tell, we are just ready to GO! I haven't been on vacation since April, and I tell you, it's wearing thin. I need a week of no work, all play....

Sherry

 

[RIDISNEYLOVERS]

Any word on Grand Caymen? Do you think we will be able to go there?

 

[lUVTOGO]

I saw pictures of Grand Cayman on another thread and it doesn't look good at all! I also looked over the Costa Maya site and there does seem to be some snorkeling on the Island and a trip to see some ruins, but the travel time there is 1 1/2 hours to the ruins.

My kids are bummed about Grand Cayman, but who knows since they heavily depend on tourism what will happen.

Who else is staying at the Raddison on Friday Night? We should arrive there around 5 p.m. or so.

I just purchased a new digital camera, and I need to learn about it before we leave!! It's coming up fast!!

Maryann

 

[jjgarv]

Scotty, Read on another post you will be doing the FUry in Cozumel.. we will be on it too! SOunds good doesnt it.

Anyone have any idea when we should start looking for our Docs??? Thirty days is next week!! Getting those docs makes it all seem real and the excitment multiplies!!!

 

[scottygirl]

I hope we get to go to Grand Cayman. It was one of the reasons I chose the Western intinerary. If not, I guess I can say I have been to 4 different places in Mexico ! Costa Maya doesn't look all that exciting. The ruins are appealing but a 1 1/2 hour bus ride is NOT! To top it off while I was on the treadmill this morning, the weather channel was discussing how the hurricane season is past its peak but that hurricanes that develop late in the season usually develop in the Western Caribbean or the Gulf of Mexico!! Oh well just get me down to FL and on the ship and after that I will go with the flow!!

jjgarv, yes we are looking forward to the Fury Catamaran, hopefully it will be smooth sailing!! I have read on other posts that people start getting their docs anywhere from 30days to 10days before the cruise. No BROWN truck has stopped at my house yet.

Tomorrow we can say that we are going on a cruise NEXT MONTH!!

TTFN,

Jackie

 

[confal1]

Finally jumpin on the bandwagon. We are also on Nov. 6th. It will be Me,my DH, DD-5, and DS-18 months. I can't wait for my documents!!!!! We are in 8032!!!

 

[MiaSRN62]

Don't know how I missed this thread up until now ! I have to tip my hat to confal1 for her recent thread which contained a reply with a link (thanks Scottygirl !) to this Nov 6 cruise meet.
It'll be:
MiaSRN62 (me) 42
DH 40
DS 17
DD 14
DD12
We have late dinner seating. We had early dinner seating on our last cruise on the Wonder and felt a little rushed to get back from excursions, so we thought we'd give the late seating a try. Not sure which one we'll prefer in the end.

We'll be in WDW (at OKW) from Nov 2 until the morning of Nov 6 when we'll drive on over in the morning and park at the cruise terminal. Hope to be on the ship no later than 1 pm. We're in #5522 & 5524 (connecting SPH's).
I have no excursions planned yet (I know---what's the delay?? !!!). This is due to the fact that we cared for a terminally ill family member in our home up until last month and we weren't even sure we'd be able to make the cruise. Sadly, my mil passed away in August and we will miss her terribly. But now I find myself way behind in planning and trying to catch up.

I'm with Scottygirl in that Grand Caymen was probably the main reason I booked the Western. Costa Maya isn't really pulling me in at this point. Maybe I just need time to get used to it. My girls wanted to do the stingray snorkel. Do you think I should just go ahead and book this anyway---or wait for definite news whether or not we'll be going there ? Any thoughts on when they'll let us know ? Very excited to be going despite the strong possibility of missing GC but we all really need some quality family time so just getting away is going to be wonderful. It's been 18 months since we've been away anywhere. Looking forward to meeting some of you on Saturday 11/6

 

[jerry112]

Welcome MiaSRN62,

We will also be in WDW (Polynesian) from Nov.2 until the morning of Nov. 6 and will be driving to and parking at the port. Can you believe, 1 month to go!!

Karen

 

[MiaSRN62]

Hi Karen !
I'm hoping this month flies by but I have a feeling it's gonna feel like forever for Nov to get here ! Looking forward to getting the opportunity to say "hi" at the Scoops meet. Is this still on as mentioned in the first post of this thread ?

 

[TYTY]

As far as I know, it still 3:00 at Scoops and if for some reason, but of course it won't, it rains I believe it's in the Promenade Lounge.

 

[MiaSRN62]

Thanks for the update TYTY

 

[WheresGoofy]

My DW and DD-1 (during the cruise) and I will be arriving on Tuesday for some WDW time. My 2 sisters will be arriving Saturday in time for the cruise. We have the early dinner time.

No excursions planned. Planning on taking it easy.

 

[scottygirl]

Welcome to our thread
WheresGoofy, MiaSRN62 and
confal1 !

We are going on a cruise NEXT month!! I've been waiting to say that! October is going to fly by. Any word on Grand Cayman? I thought I read on one of the "Live from the Magic" threads that the Captain said they won't be back to Grand Cayman untill the middle of November. Any thoughts on what to do in Costa Maya?

TYTY is correct the DISmeet is 3:00 at Scoops or the Promenade Lounge in inclement weather. I was thinking about the DISmeet. How are we going to recognize each other?

Has anybody started packing? I am thinking about pulling out the suitcases this weekend if I get a few minutes of free time. Now that the weather is turning cool, there will be plenty of things that I can pack.

TTFN,

Jackie

 

[TYTY]

Jackie,

I've started packing! I got the suitcases down from the attic last week and started putting some summer clothes (that we won't be wearing anymore - it's starting to get cold) in them.

Has anybody received their documents yet??

 

[CinRN]

Our family, myself, DH, DS6, and DD3 will be arriving on sat and have late seating dinner. Can't believe it is so close now, feels like we have been waiting forever!!!

 

[confal1]

Hi again, is the meeting time and place for the day that we board on Sat? Hope to see you there. You will know me by the cute little 5 year old daughter, blond hair blue eyes and our 14 month son who looks just like his big sister. I hope to get my DH there to. See you next month

 

[CatLady]

Looks like we're joining you on the 11/6 Magic! I thought we were going to cruise on the 11/4 Wonder, so I am super-excited! DH and I are taking my sister for her birthday.

Are there any other groups traveling on this cruise without children?

There is so many things I need to find out, since I wasn't expecting to have to contend with things like formal night. Wow... so little time to prepare... it's nearly here!!

 

[MiaSRN62]

Scottygirl---thanks for the welcome

I've started packing a little but I'm usually a "power packer" and will do the bulk of it the week prior. I do have to work the weekend (including Halloween night) prior to our leaving. We're doing 4 nights in WDW first and we drive down from the Philly area.
As for recognizing eachother Hmmmm.....maybe we could make some sort of lime green pins or wear something lime green. I don't think I have this color in my wardrobe but I could make a pin. Is it just the DIS members that are meeting or is it our whole family. I have the feeling my three kids (dd12, dd14 and ds17) may take off to explore the ship ! But if families are meeting I'll try and coral them.
I'm so torn about Costa Maya. We had our hearts set on the stingray snorkel so we're undecided about Costa Maya. Maybe we'll just swim at the public free pool and I heard there's a free public beach nearby too ? I'm a little confused if this is Mahahual or another one ? I heard the snorkel excursion was not that great. I understand taxis will take you to Mahahual for about $2-$3 pp one-way. But I heard mixed reviews on the beaches, i.e. one person said they were very, very dirty yet another said the exact opposite and raved how beautiful it was I'm wondering if these two posters were discussing different beaches.
CatLady ~ I'm sure there will be plenty of others without kids. I have the feeling my dd's 12 and 14 will be attached to our hips because this year they fall into two different age categories for the clubs (they both just had birthdays this summer) and the 12 year old will not go to the Lab without her big sister---though I will try and talk her into it. I know we'll most likely not even see my ds (17) the entire cruise ! In '02 when he was 15, we couldn't get him out of Common Grounds (now called The Stack). I noticed CinRN has "late seating". Do you also CatLady ? Wish we knew what our dining rotations would be ahead of time. We're getting really excited despite our disappointment about Grand Caymen.
I have a question. We've not booked any excursions yet. I realize we should have by now but we had a rough summer and weren't even sure we'd make this cruise (cared for the kids terminally ill gm). My question is do we call DCL directly to book excursions or would our TA (Dreams) take care of this ? What's everyone else thinking about for excursions in Key West or Cozumel ? We were just going to wing Key West but may rethink that and book a snorkel excursion in light of not getting to GC. Sorry this got so long.......I'll end now

Looking forward to meeting you all