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

[atinkerbellmom]

Hi guys, we just booked this too. I will post again after reading the 3 pages. Subscribing now.

 

[CJLKIM]

Hey all! Just booked this morning!

This will be our 3rd cruise on the Magic (all Westerns) and our 2nd "Double Dip". At time of cruise it'll be: Me (37), DH (51), DD (14) and DD (10).

We will be using Magical Express and utilizing DCL transfers. We are planning on going down a day early and staying at CBR like we did back in 2005.

Can't wait to meet everyone...first here on the DIS and then onboard at a DISmeet. Anyone up for weekly chats??

 

[racrj]

We finally committed today and booked this cruise. Me, DH, DD(10) and DS(6) have been on a Disney cruise before, but I couldn't pass up the double dip!!! We're going to be staying in a cat 9 on deck 2, but it really doesn't matter where, we'll be on the BOAT!!!
I look forward to talking with many of you over the next 20 months!

 

[CJLKIM]

We finally committed today and booked this cruise. Me, DH, DD(10) and DS(6) have been on a Disney cruise before, but I couldn't pass up the double dip!!! We're going to be staying in a cat 9 on deck 2, but it really doesn't matter where, we'll be on the BOAT!!!
I look forward to talking with many of you over the next 20 months!

Welcome racrj! Looking forwarding to talking to you too! My youngest DD will also be 10 on the cruise so maybe we can set them up as penpals when we get closer so they'll have a friend to meet up with onboard. We had a Cat 9 on Deck 2 back in 2005 - it was nice. Not noisy at all even though it was midship by Ocean Quest.

 

[PixiePop]

Hi. My son will be 10 when we cruise as well.

 

[loveysbydesign]

Hi. My son will be 10 when we cruise as well.

My oldest ds will be 10, my dd will be 7 and my youngest will be 2 when we cruise!!

 

[CJLKIM]

I went ahead and started the master rollcall list of everyone that's joined the thread so far. I will send a private message to rgroves in case they'd like to copy it over to Post #1 and keep updating it. If not, no big deal, I'll keep adding information to it as we go.

If anyone has changes or additions to names, ages, staterooms or special occassions being celebrated, just let me know!

Here's what we have so far:

rgroves
Silly Little Pixie
bielen
Phelpsie70 w/ DH and DS 7
JustLorri
loveysbydesign w/ DS 10, DD 7 and DS 2 - SPH
Disney Footer w/ DS 10 and DS 8 - SPH
Jeanne B
GreatWhiteNorth (Angie) - Cat 6 - 2nd dinner seating - looking to link with other group members
Planned To Do: Palo brunch, Palo dinner, Dress-up for pirates nite, Wine tasting, Galley tour and massage...massage....massage...
HuskerMickey
momw/2princesses w/ DH, DD 8 and DD 6
chop003 w/ DW, DS 13, DS 10 and DD 8
comet1 w/ DW and DS 4-1/2
JENR w/ DH, DS 9 and DS 6
jennifaerie w/ DH
SCCRUZZER
KensJen (Jen)
melissaknits w/ DH
busybethie (Beth) w/ DH, DD 12, DD 10, DD 6, DParents, 2 DBros and families and Parents’ Friends
scootch w/ DD 10 and DD 7
deanna2426 w/ DH, DS 10 and DS 6
PixiePop w/ DH and DS 10
atinkerbellmom w/ DH, DS 10 and DD 6
CJLKIM (Kris) w/ DH (Jeff), DD (Heather) 14 and DD (Haleigh) 10 - #7512 - 3rd Anniversary of our Wedding Aboard the Magic
Planned To Do: Banana Boat @ CC (seas were too rough in '06), Turtles @ GC (can't wait to see them again), Beach Break at Playa Mia @ Coz (loved it in '06), massage, Palo Brunch and finally want to learn how to make the towel animals!!!
racrj w/ DH, DD 10 and DS 6

 

[GreatWhiteNorth]

CJLKIM
Thanks for starting the roll call. I hope there will be other 'solo'cruisers. I would also like to link dining (2nd) with a group too, w/ or w/o kids. I have lots of time tho.
Here is my to do list on board:
massage
Palo brunch
Palo dinner
massage
Dress-up for pirates nite
Wine tasting
massage
Galley tour

More when I can think of more......

 

[CJLKIM]

CJLKIM
Thanks for starting the roll call. I hope there will be other 'solo'cruisers. I would also like to link dining (2nd) with a group too, w/ or w/o kids. I have lots of time tho.
Here is my to do list on board:
massage
Palo brunch
Palo dinner
massage
Dress-up for pirates nite
Wine tasting
massage
Galley tour

More when I can think of more......

Oh...I'm right there with ya'. Another cruiser with OCPD (Obsessive Compulsive Planning Disorder) was nice enough to give me a copy of the spreadsheet matrix back in 2005 and I've already revised info on it for 2009 plugging in shows, excursions I'm planning, onboard activities, etc.

I think I will go ahead and start a more detailed spreadsheet with everyone's cruise plans so that we can maybe coordinate (for those interested). For Palo and etc. it's great to gave connections in getting reservations...

 

[GreatWhiteNorth]

Kris,
Your excursions look great. I will have to start looking into some. Did you book then through DCL?

 

[racrj]

This is GREAT! I am so excited about this cruise I can hardly wait!!! After reading through the postings, I noticed a lot of kids are ages 10 and/or 6. That would be great if they could set up penpals to communicate before the trip. Great idea, Kris.
Well - this has to be a short note, because it is DD's 9th birthday today and she didn't do her homework, as asked, before we went to dinner and now we are in crisis mode. I really hope the hormones aren't starting yet - one minute she has tears and is crying, the next minute she can be laughing.... The fun is just beginning!!!

 

[CJLKIM]

Kris,
Your excursions look great. I will have to start looking into some. Did you book then through DCL?

I haven't booked them yet....I've just reviewed the Navigators to confirm the normal start times (along with looking at my past cruises scheduled excursions) to plug them in....I do book through DCL though when the time comes just because I'm too chicken about going out on my own and missing the ship.

I am, however, thinking about doing GC on my own. I know that the first tenders go to people who have excursions through DCL first so I'll hang out a little extra on the ship that morning. I'm really thinking rather than having to take the whole Island Tour again so the girls can see the turtles that we'll just take a taxi or bus over to the Turtle Farm. It sounds like it will be cheaper and there's no way we should miss the ship only going there....

 

[atinkerbellmom]

Hey Kris, Thank you for getting the roll call list going...

We just got off the Magic and booked this cruise on the ship. We have done the Wonder X 2 and the Magic X 2 now. We decided to do this one with the two stops at CC since we were unable to dock at CC last week. It is my DH's favorite port of call and we were very sad. We keep booking cruises around celebrations. My birthday was last week and believe it or not, we did not realize it until after the trip was booked. We chose the week based on last years Spring Break (which in turns our district switched) and this cruise I was looking for the 2 CC stops. After booking it, I realized it would be over my DS's birthday..... So it must have meant to be. Our thread appears to have a lot of members. I just have to start placing real names with screen names in my head to actually get to know people.

After our cruise last week, I do not think I will do much planning. If you have been keeping up with the regular boards, you have seen we ended up not doing most of our ports of call and the activities on the ship changed hourly. So, we think we will just be Beach Bums this time and hop on back to Froggers in Mexico. We did the Western cruise before last. I guess it was a good lesson for me to not overplan.....

I would like to know where everyone else has sailed before and when. Like me, many do not use up all of the signature lines to place it there. So what is everyone elses' past DCL history. Right now we tend to be going every 18-20 months.

 

[CJLKIM]

I was really surprised once I starting typing up the rollcall just how long it actually was already. It doesn't really look like it when you're just browsing the thread.

I've had pretty good luck with our cruises and ports. Our first trip in '05 was a standard Western but because of the hurricane taking out Cozumel we obviously couldn't stop there. We were supposed to be rerouted to Nassau but when we got onboard they announced they'd made special arrangements for us to go to Costa Maya. You should have seen the flood of people hit the excursion desk...but we just chose to check out the port then get back on the ship...nice and relaxing....

After the '05 diversion I was leary about Cozumel in '06 so I just booked the Beach Break so that I wouldn't really miss it if it was cancelled...needless to say that was a great excursion. We swam, did the paddle boats, lounged, ate...ate...ate. '06 was also a Double Dip and although we were able to dock both days, on Friday the wind was playing havic on the water so they cancelled some of the excursions...banana boat, parasailing, etc. No big deal there either...just lounged on the beach....

Having been to the ports before, I'm kind of an auto-pilot with planning. We knew exactly what we wanted to do in port so I've been able to get a general mock-up of our time. I know what DAY I want our couple's massage, Palo Brunch, etc. so it'll be just a matter of getting whatever time when we book them. Maybe it's the fact of having gone before that is actually allowing me to maybe branch away from the DCL excursions at Cayman and do it on our own...I know I can fit stuff in without worrying about missing the last tender....

Hey, speaking of that, I saw that Cayman was supposed to have started work on docks last year. Has anyone heard if they did? Tendering is okay but it sure would be nice to be able to just walk onshore and feel free to come and go off the ship throughout the day....

We'd always planned to cruise every 1-2 years but it'll have been 3 years when we go next. We had our 2nd cruise booked before ever going on our 1st and we had a 3rd one booked for '07 before going on our 2nd - then while onboard took advantage of the rebooking credits to get a better deal....except life got in the way and we had to cancel it all together. We plan to rebook onboard but are considering taking a round on the Wonder next time so we can say that we sailed on her. We'll add in some time at WDW since we've only really been there literally 1-1/2 days in our lives and the girls would love to hang out. We'll most likely do a Cat 6 on the Wonder and Poly at WDW. From there we just figure we'll rebook for a future date to be determined and maybe end up on one of the new ships when they are finished (depending on availability).

Well...gotta run...time for the girls to head out to school.

If anyone wants to start some "getting acquainted" chat sessions - let's through some days and times into a hat and see what we can come up with. Also need to know if AOL/AIM is okay with everyone or if people use another IM system (I have accounts set up with AIM, Yahoo and MSN...not to mention MySpace).

 

[jennifaerie]

Holy cow! Is it really that many people?!

It will be me, and well, I guess by then, he'll be my husband (we're getting married this September)! It's very strange to say. Almost feels like I'm jinxing it!

I've only been on one cruise so far. We were on the Wonder, January 27th of this year. We're also going on a land/sea next January, same time.

 

[atinkerbellmom]

When we were on the Magic July of our last cruise, we tendered to GC. We did not dock any place except Key West and CC. Since KW is not a port on theis cruise (not that I do not like it, I just like CC more), it is not in the count.

I too have an OCD problem with planning and I have to say, after 4 cruises on DCL I have truly learned to go with the flow. Now we do do Palos (even though last week, that was a disater). I am not one on the computer at midnight night 90 though. I have always did it casually and have always gotton what I asked for. Maybe it has just been the luck of the draw. This last cruise we did dinner X 1 and Brunch X2. I am just not a person to freak out before hand I guess....

We have never been the BIG excursion people either. We kind of just like the local aspects of the ports. We are very big into culture and trying to exsperience what the ports give us.

Can someone start a list that we can have everyones info on it that we can e-mail to everyone. We can then place screen names, true names, kids ages, city and state of residence, cabin numbers and dining status. I do not like placing all of that information on a public thread. Any volunteers, I am not very computer savy......

I have a link to a chat room that my old cruise meets was using until the DIS chat got fixed. If everyone is up for a group chat, we can go there very easy without joining just by clicking a link. How does that sound?

 

[loveysbydesign]

It's great to read the post from all of the Disney Cruise veterans!!
We've only done one cruise and that was on RC Sovereign of the Seas....so we are dying to go on a Disney Cruise and the anticipation is amazing!

 

[PixiePop]

I can't believe how many people are already on the list. It is going to be fun to get to know all of you. The only other cruise that we have been on was a 3 night Disney cruise. We didn't think we would like cruising so we did a land/sea package. Well, by day 2 we completly fell in love with it. I am just so excited to be doing a seven day, double dip!!!

 

[GreatWhiteNorth]

Hi everyone,
Well I have never cruised before so I hope I don't go crazy waiting these 20 months or so. I love reading the DIS boards for some great tips and trip reports. I have many pages saved.
CJLKIM - I only have MSN for a chat. Please let me know when we are going to start.

 

[GreatWhiteNorth]

Looks like alot of us like "Tinkerbell"