11/14/09 - Special Western - 2 CC stops

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Hi all!

I finally made it back on!! Sorry it took so long. It feels like the entire month of July just got away from me, what with the project and my sister being in the hospital and all. The project does seem to be nearing an end, thank goodness ... at least an end to the work that they've agreed to at this point. Of course, they want more but that's good becuase I'm going to quote them extra for it and that'll be how we (whew!) finish paying for the cruise. My sister is doing better.... she ended up back in the hospital for a night or two because her body wasn't getting rid of fluids and she was basically going to drown herself laying on her bed. But that got taken care of. Last I heard she was back in the ER yesterday for some pulled muscles (maybe chest?) probably from coughing. It's gonna be a long road, but she's actually doing a lot better than she was.

So now let me catch up on some notes from the thread and then I'll post some spreadsheet data. Oh, and MouseMom, I will be emailing you about taking over the spreadsheet and all. To be perfectly honest, my first reaction was "noooooooooo.... that's my only contribution to the group" and a kicked-aside feeling. But then I gave myself a moment and realized that there's absolutely no way any of you wonderful people would do that and that it's just my super hyper type AAAAAAAAA personality that makes me want to take on more and more and more and more. But I have an idea on how I can keep my hand it in and still take you up on your most generous offer and that way not let everyone down. And if that doesn't work then I'll just hand it off to you because it'd be stupidly selfish of me to want to keep doing it but to let everyone down.

If only I had the guts to post what DS#1 was doing when DH was taking those pictures. He was late and in his boxers (red no less, thank heaven the pants were black :rotfl: - or maybe matching his vest and tie???). Boys will be boys, no matter what the age.

Great pictures!!!!! And an even better story!!!!!!!! Yep, folks ask me about kids at home and I mention that I have 3 boys at home... the 13yo, the 15yo and the 50+yo. And the only one that really gives me any trouble is the 50+ yo because he THINKS he knows what's up.

Denise--we have another set of relatives coming, so we have another cabin, too, now!!

Woot!!!! Did you add another line to the spreadsheet? Seriously, I think y'all are bringing your own small country!!!! :rotfl2:

Should I just count cabins on the spreadsheet? Last I saw, there were about 36. Any idea of additions?

When I created the spreadsheet (waaaaaay back a long time ago) I didn't differentiate as to whether the whole cabin was participating in the FE or just certain folks. I'll add a column to the spreadsheet. Those of you with access, please pop in and update your info in that column. Those of you without access, PM me your email addy and I'll get you access (or forward the PM to MouseMom who will get you access... however we end up breaking this down).

Kinda cool that Monday is Formal Night. It is also DW's birthday, so maybe we'll get dressed up and all go out for a nice meal somewhere :lmao:

Oh, that can be so magical! My b-day was on formal night on our last cruise and I did the whole ball gown princess thing. I even had a tiara!!!! And King Charming was soooooooooooo wonderful. He made me feel like such a precious princess all night long!! I have great memories of that birthday and he definitely still has some hubbie points in the bank for that one.

Life has just gotten in the way. I just lost my dad 6/26.

I'm so sorry to hear about your Dad. You and your family are in my prayers. I haven't checked my PMs yet (figured I'd answer here then check PMs then update the spreadsheet), but I will. Again, sorry to hear about yor dad.

As far as the website link-could you please PM me or is that Denise as well? I still have to find out more about SM game.

I'll be happy to give you the URL to the website. If you haven't PM'd me already then please do so or .... tell you what, everyone..... I see emails more quickly than I see PMs. I'll try to put my email address in my sig and then everyone can just use that to send me requests. Then I'll promise to answer them faster (or pass them on to MouseMom.. however we end up breaking that down).

Hello, I'm a newbie here

:welcome: Great to have ya!!!! I'll check PMs in a moment and if you don't hear from me within the hour (it's currently 8am on Sat the 1st) then email me a quick slap upside the head.

My sister and her husband just decided to join us last weekend!!

So what's the name of your small country anyway?

Less than 3 weeks till the 90 day out mark!! I'm getting my mouse finger warmed up to start making my Palo and other ressies!!

That's the part that's scaring the heck out of me.

I thought I'd share my "homework" from a class at work yesterday. We had to write a 50-word essay about anything we want. The only catch is that we could only use 1-syllable words!

How cool!!!!! Very well done. I wonder if I could have kept myself to one syllable words. Heck, I probably couldn't have stayed within the 50 word limit. :rotfl2:

For my boys I got to Dollar tree and get beach toys there and just toss them after castaway, plus I'll have more room in my suitcase. If I think of anything else I'll let you know.

Before our last cruise (April 2008) I was reading something on the boards (back when I could actually get on the boards on a regular basis) about an exchange of sorts at Castaway Cay. Instead of tossing dollar store sand toys folks would leave them somewhere for the next group of kids to enjoy. I don't remember if it was on the island or on the ship and I don't even know if it's still happening. But if you're planning to toss them anyway, you may wish to research this a bit and if the exchange is still happening you may be able to spread a bit of pixie dust.

voted "Most likely to close the bar (but continue to drink up on deck 9)" are still excellent.:banana::banana::banana:

....

And if you don't mind, I'd like to suggest a check in around the 30 day mark. Just stop by if only to say your plans haven't changed and your info can be confirmed.

You know, I think this is why we get along so well together. I'm an early, early bird and he's quite the night owl. We see each other for a few hours during the middle of the day and enjoy spending time together during the evening but we each have our own time too. Either that or I'm back to my standard answer of "we're the only two people in the world that will put up with each other's stuff" :rotfl2:

Actually, with all the new folks joining and such, I think a check in would be a great idea. But maybe we should do it at at the 90, 60 and 30 day marks. What do y'all think? Is my Type-AAAAAAAAAAAA personality showing again?

She also recommended that we bring some antibiotics and Immodium/Pepto just in case we get a case of Montezuma's Revenge.

Somewhere before our last cruise I read that we should take just about the whole medicine cabinet including pain reliever, immodium, bandaids and the other regular stuff that you'd have in a first aid kit. The reasoning was that if you had to go to the ship's doctor for something, the only thing that'd be free would be seasickness pills. From what I hear everything else, including something as simple as aspirin, was exorbitantly priced. We took a whole bunch of meds. Ended up not needing them at all, but I was sure glad we had them just in case. Just a thought......

I am excited to tell you my sister and brother-in-law and their family are coming, too!!

Wow... now the country's not so small anymore. Hopefully you have a name for it by now.

I've been thinking (quick, run away and hide!). My schedule between now and the cruise is pretty reasonable. If Denise is really slammed with work, I'd be happy to take a few cruise things off her plate. Specifically, I'd could approve website access and handle the spreadsheet info. Why don't you (or Denise) PM me and we can work out the details.

I'll PM you. The more I think about this the more I think it's a great idea. I'm sorry that you have to do it and that I can't seem to keep up with my responsibilities, but I am very grateful that you're willing to step up and do it and that everyone else doesn't have to keep continuing to pay for my inability to do everything I set out to do.

Do I still need to PM Denise for access to the website? Can someone allow me in? Pretty please w/a double dip on top?

Either me or MouseMom... probably a good idea to cc the PM to both of us at this point.

Hello all! Just booked this as our 3rd Disney Cruise and am very excited! We got the military special so although we booked pretty late we still got a good deal!

:welcome: and thank you for your service!!!

When you can (have to make 10 posts first if you haven't) please PM me and MouseMom and we'll get you access to all the goodies.

Hello all - We are booked on this cruise but we've never done the DCL thingy. We are really quite excited to join in the fun. It will be me, DW and DD (7). How do we join all of the fun?

:welcome:

When you can (have to make 10 posts first if you haven't) please PM me and MouseMom and we'll get you access to all the goodies.

No cut-off established yet, but I am thinking that September 30th is a good date. For those of us who are ordering them, that would give enough lead time for ordering, shipping, and assembly.

I'm in a quandry about what to do about my clothes for the trip. I am slowly, but steadily losing weight. All my capris are getting big on me now, and I'm not sure what size I'll be on the trip. But, who carries summer clothes in October? I'm hoping that Lands End may have some. I'm also thinking about heading out to Penney's tomorrow and buying a few that are 1 size smaller.

Only problem I see with a Sept 30 cutoff date is what if someone books the cruise in October? I'd hate to leave them out. But I definitely understand the need for a cutoff date too. I know I'll be ordering a few extras of whatever we do so hopefully that will cover late arrivals, but how is everyone else handling this?

Okay... I'm off to check PMs, modify my signature, PM MouseMom and summarize the spreadsheet. Hopefully I'm doing this early enough that everyone's going to get a pleasant Saturday surprise.
 
15 weeks and it will be our turn to board the Magic. I so want to go and I so don't want it to be Nov, 21st.... Someday I will figure out how to make one date hurry and the following to take forever.

When you learn the secret, let me know please....:rotfl:
 
When you learn the secret, let me know please....:rotfl:

You will be the first to know. My idea for prolonging this time is the back to back but this cruise being the "second leg" might make it even sadder to have to get off the ship. We shall see.
 
Here's the info from the spreadsheet as it currently stands as of 1 Aug 2009 at 8:46AM Eastern:

Families
26 points of contact (i.e., Dissers)

The points of contact that I have are as follows. If your name is not on this list then I didn't include your info in this accounting. If that's the case send me a PM or an email so I can get it corrected. The points of contact are: mommyarewegoingback, Desi, binky1, mousemom11, nc__monkey, mommykeg, Hypermommy, sandiegosusie, mrp4352, txtwins2000, smye1stdisneycruise, gomagic, racrj, glindamood, Travelbee, LindaBabe, Elderfam, RookieMouse, BigJack2002, xxcell, TinLizzy90, SJSH Mom, RGroves, Woobie, Fivepin, makaylee

Adults = 75
males = 33
females = 40
(yay!!! The females outnumber the males so we can keep them in line!!!! LOL)

Flounders Nursery (ages 0-3)
(well, I'm not sure if they take tiny infants, but I'd identified everything else by the kids club)
Male = 3
Female = 1

Oceaneer Club Kids (ages 3-7)
Male = 5
Female = 5

Oceaneer Lab Kids (ages 8-12)
Male = 8
Female = 16 (they really are taking over!!!! LOL)

The Stack (teenagers)
Male = 4
Female = 2

(I think all the kids have been listed now... by the way, if your kid's name is Bryce, I'm figuring that's a male name? But if not, let me know).

Dining
Early = 21
Late = 12

Dressing for pirate nite? 28 (didn't count the "maybe" answers in this number)

Fish Exchange? 25 cabins (again, I didn't count the one "maybe" response nor the one "?" response in this number)

Only a few points of contact went back and modified the spreadsheet to indicate kid only. Now that may mean that for all the other families everyone's participating. But just in case, I've added 2 columns to the spreadsheet. 1 is the number of adults in your cabin participating in FE. The other is for the # of kids particpating in FE. If everyone would take a moment and head out to the spreadsheet and update these two columns for their particular row it might help folks plan.

Dismeet on Sat? 23 points of contact said yes.

That's what I know for now.

I guess it's time we also start looking at who's doing what exursions, huh? Hey, everyone, if y'all could go back into the spreadsheet and update it with what y'all are going to be doing, I could include that info next time. Or Mousemom could... whichever of us ends up doing it.

Thanks again for y'all being so very patient with me.
 

Okay, I just had one of those "aha" moments. Don't ask me why I didn't do this before... just didn't think of it. But.....

What I've been doing with the spreadsheet is downloading a copy, adding columns and entering information so I can do the counts. For example, I'd add a column for late dining and one for early dining, put a 1 in each column based on the dining plans the person said they had, and then let Excel subtotal that. So I had an epiphany this morning... why not just put those columns in there and y'all can put in the numbers as folks are added. Doh!

So that's what I've done. This will accomplish a couple of things... first off, it'll make gathering the numbers easier so I can do it more quickly. Maybe that'll make sure I get it updated more often. Or that MouseMom gets it updated more often... whichever of us is doing this (still on my list of things to do to PM you MM). #2, this means that any of you with access to the spreadsheet can get whatever numbers interest you whenever you like. Just pop out to the spreadsheet and look at the first row under the headers... that's the totals for that column.

Why didn't I do this before? I dunno..... this seems to happen all the time. I'll get an epiphany about how to do something easier or more effectively. I just wish I could make these epiphanies happen on a more predictable basis! :scared1:

And as I subtotaled out there I found that the numbers were a bit different than what I'd downloaded so I'm going to post a new set of numbers in the next post. I was wondering why they were different and I think the issue might be with folks that aren't still on our cruise. So here's the deal... everyone please head out to the spreadsheet and check what color the text in your row is. If it's not black (if it's greyed out) that means I haven't heard from you when we did the last "roll call" and I don't believe you're still coming on this cruise. And if you are, that's not good, so please either change it to black text or let me know and I'll change it (or MouseMom will).

Okay... I think that's it for now. Numbers coming again in the next post.
 
I decided to do another update because I wasn't 100% sure of my previous numbers. Hey, I'd only had half a cup of coffee :surfweb: But now that I've got the totals right there in the original spreadsheet, I'm sure one or two of the other TypeA people on here (are there any?) might check up on me so this is a good thing.

Anyway..... and away we go.............

Here's the info from the spreadsheet as it currently stands:

Families
26 points of contact (i.e., Dissers)

Adults = 72
males = 34
females = 38

Flounders Nursery (ages 0-2)
Male = 3
Female = 1

Oceaneer Club Kids (ages 3-7)
Male = 6
Female = 3

Oceaneer Lab Kids (ages 8-12)
Male = 7
Female = 18

The Stack (teenagers)
Male = 4
Female = 2

Dining
Early = 21
Late = 12

Dressing for pirate nite? 27

Fish Exchange? 25 cabins
(next update should include individuals, I hope)

Dismeet on Sat? 24
 
Hi Everyone,

Went through my bout of bronchitis, which turned into pnemonia,then got Lyme disease.
OMG, I am so ready for this trip:banana::banana::banana::worship::worship:.


I forgot some of our plans, so if you read this and remember let me know please.

I know we are doing the Dolphin thing on cozumel, but forgot who with:confused3

also, the stingray thing on Grand Cayman, forgot that one too:sad2:

I need to catch up on everything.

xxcell
 
Hi Everyone,

Went through my bout of bronchitis, which turned into pnemonia,then got Lyme disease.
OMG, I am so ready for this trip:banana::banana::banana::worship::worship:.


I forgot some of our plans, so if you read this and remember let me know please.

I know we are doing the Dolphin thing on cozumel, but forgot who with:confused3

also, the stingray thing on Grand Cayman, forgot that one too:sad2:

I need to catch up on everything.

xxcell

Oh no!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Sounds like you've just about lost the month of July too with everything you've had going on.

The dolphin thing... were you doing the royal swim? If so, that's with us. And was it you that was also going to do the zipline thing at Cozumel with King Charming?

Everyone... I was thinking of adding more columns to the spreadsheet so we could track who's doing what excursions now that we're getting to that timeframe. But that could make the spreadsheet truly out of hand... what do you think? Maybe a separate spreadsheet? Opinions?
 
yes, If I wasn't at the Dr, I was swallowing anti-biotics.
Yeah, July was like a lost month, but at least it rained up here in CT most days.

Yes, we are doing the royal swim, the one we booked in May? With the discount?

Please tell King Charming that we are def doing the zipline and would love to have company with us.

We are prob doing fishing on the 2nd afternoon at Castaway.

One more ?. We usually skip the formal night and romp around the ship or use it as our Palo night. So even though it's our 4th DCL cruise,we never did the formal thing. Is it a must do?

Actually another ?, Couples canopy maggage on Castaway? Is it worth it?


Glad I'm back, sorry about all the ????:hyper2:
 
Hi Everyone,

Went through my bout of bronchitis, which turned into pnemonia,then got Lyme disease.
OMG, I am so ready for this trip:banana::banana::banana::worship::worship:.


I forgot some of our plans, so if you read this and remember let me know please.

I know we are doing the Dolphin thing on cozumel, but forgot who with:confused3

also, the stingray thing on Grand Cayman, forgot that one too:sad2:

I need to catch up on everything.

xxcell

Glad you have you back and feeling better. What a nasty time you had. I think you need a cruise to help you recover.... oh wait, yeah, you are already going on one :banana::banana::banana:!

Good job with the spreadsheet Denise. I have not been out there in a long time, guess I best be finding the link. See announcement in the next post.
 
Secret Mickey - don't forget to add your information to the spreadsheet if you want to play along with us. Great fun!
 
Oh, I just remembered something I wanted to mention but keep forgetting. Someone was talking about getting the characters to sign pillowcases and that's a capital idea. But another idea that I read somewhere is to get one of those large frame mattings from a craft store (like Michael's or whatever your local store is.... Walmart might even have them) and give that to guest services with a Sharpie marker. We did that but gave them several markers. I also left a note with guest services saying that we wanted the characters to sign it in portrait orientation (as opposed to landscape). We got it back the last day (if memory serves it was even delivered to our room) with lots and lots of signatures of all the characters that were on the ship. Now that matting is in a frame with our picture from semi-formal night (our favorite pic) and that's up on the wall. It's a great souvenier and is darn near free.....

... except for the picture which I believe KC calls his $500 picture. LOL

Anyway... just another idea for y'all to consider.
 
Secret Mickey - don't forget to add your information to the spreadsheet if you want to play along with us. Great fun!

And that's on page 2....

Maybe it's just me, but I forgot we even have a page two (see how bad I am). I did put my info on there weeks and weeks ago, though.

But that solves another thing.... I'm going to put four more pages on the spreadsheet so we can keep track of specific excursions. One page for each port of call (and each day at CC will get it's own page!!!!!!!!). I'll get that built in a few minutes and y'all let me know what you think, please.
 
We also have a DD who is an only child and will turn 7 during the cruise. She'd be happy to "chat" with your DD. On our last cruise, it was MUCH more enjoyable for everyone after she's made a friend. She wasn't crazy about any of the club activities until she has a friend to go with her. So yes, I'm all for pairing them up!

Thanks, Travelbee. My DD turns 7 the day after we get back. In fact, that is one of the reasons we are cruising that week. It is celebration week in our house. We celebrate our Anniversay right before the cruise (Nov. 11), my birthday is Nov. 21 - its a "big" one (the day we leave the ship) and DD's birthday is Nov.22.

I totally agree about helping the DD make a few freinds before she gets there. I want her to have friends to help her get over any fear or uncertainty so she can jump right into the kid fun.

When my Lauren gets back we will contact you and see how we can arrange for them to chat and make friends.

:cool1:
 
Hypermommy - Good to have you back!! I think adding a page to the spreadsheet for the excursions is a great idea. It'll help all of us keep track! xxcell - I'm with you, I can't remember who I'm doing the excursion with. I think we're with you on the sting ray in Grand Cayman.

Thanks, Travelbee. My DD turns 7 the day after we get back. In fact, that is one of the reasons we are cruising that week. It is celebration week in our house. We celebrate our Anniversay right before the cruise (Nov. 11), my birthday is Nov. 21 - its a "big" one (the day we leave the ship) and DD's birthday is Nov.22.

I totally agree about helping the DD make a few freinds before she gets there. I want her to have friends to help her get over any fear or uncertainty so she can jump right into the kid fun.

When my Lauren gets back we will contact you and see how we can arrange for them to chat and make friends.

:cool1:

Wow - November sounds like a busy month for your household. Congrats on your anniversary and the "big" one. DH turned 40 last December so we're all there with you. We picked this cruise because we can celebrate Allison's birthday (11/17) AND for the double dip (plus we save about a $1000 not having a birthday party!!!) Allison is into swimming, gymnastics, cheerleading, singing, Hannah Montana, High School Musical, pet shop, barbies, all the girly stuff... PM me when Lauren gets back.
 
OK - I'm slowly getting up to speed on most of our plans, but somebody help me out. What are the secret mickeys. How does this work.

Thanks for any info.
 
We picked this cruise because we can celebrate Allison's birthday (11/17) AND for the double dip (plus we save about a $1000 not having a birthday party!!!) Allison is into swimming, gymnastics, cheerleading, singing, Hannah Montana, High School Musical, pet shop, barbies, all the girly stuff... PM me when Lauren gets back.

I will definitely PM when my girls get home. It sounds like Lauren and Allison have a lot in common. Lauren is into all of those things, especially swimming - she is a little like Flounder.:lovestruc

I look forward to chatting and getting acquainted.
 
Hypermommy - Good to have you back!!

Thanks!!!

Wow - November sounds like a busy month for your household. Congrats on your anniversary and the "big" one. DH turned 40 last December so we're all there with you. We picked this cruise because we can celebrate Allison's birthday (11/17) AND for the double dip (plus we save about a $1000 not having a birthday party!!!) Allison is into swimming, gymnastics, cheerleading, singing, Hannah Montana, High School Musical, pet shop, barbies, all the girly stuff... PM me when Lauren gets back.

Okay, it's official. I've been around that King I'm married too for just waaaaaaaaayyyyyyy too long. My very first thought on learning that you were saving $1K by not having a b-day party was "and you're spending how much to save that $1K?". I can just hear him saying that and giving me that "tell me again how you're saving money by spending it" look he has.

Arrrrrggggghhhhhh!!!! This is terrible. I'm supposed to be right there backing you up on your quite reasonable reasoning and instead I'm starting to think like him. This is worse than getting old!!!!!!!! Oh noooooooooooo!!!!!!!
 
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