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

[mousemom11]

Hi everyone! This is our second attempt at our first Disney cruise. About a year ago, I was putting together a cruise for November 2008. But, my husband has a genetic kidney disease and was going into kidney failure, so we put it off.

The good news is that he had a kidney transplant on May 7, 2008 and is doing well. So we are now booked on the 11/14/09 Western double dip in cat 3 room 8086! We decided that after what our family has gone through in the past few years, we needed a blow-out family vacation to just have FUN together again. We'll actually be arriving in Orlando on 11/4 and spending 10 days at Disneyworld/Universal Studios/Seaworld before we go cruising.

Our girls will be 11 and 8 on the trip. We're telling them about the land portion of the trip, but keeping the cruise a surprise. I can't wait to see their faces as we pull up to the ship and they figure out what is going on!

I'm so looking forward to sailing with all of you. It will be fun to share this with a terrific group of people!

 

[binky1]

Welcome, welcome!!
Glad to hear that your DH is on the road to recovery and it was obviously meant to be that you would join all of us on this great Double Dip!!

We stayed in a Cat 3 last time and it was totally AWESOME!! The concierge team of Jonathan and Jennifer made our trip that much more magical.

It will be great getting to know you and your family over the next 16 months!!

Cheers,

 

[Justthe8ofus]

Hi everyone! This is our second attempt at our first Disney cruise. About a year ago, I was putting together a cruise for November 2008. But, my husband has a genetic kidney disease and was going into kidney failure, so we put it off.

The good news is that he had a kidney transplant on May 7, 2008 and is doing well. So we are now booked on the 11/14/09 Western double dip in cat 3 room 8086! We decided that after what our family has gone through in the past few years, we needed a blow-out family vacation to just have FUN together again. We'll actually be arriving in Orlando on 11/4 and spending 10 days at Disneyworld/Universal Studios/Seaworld before we go cruising.

Our girls will be 11 and 8 on the trip. We're telling them about the land portion of the trip, but keeping the cruise a surprise. I can't wait to see their faces as we pull up to the ship and they figure out what is going on!

I'm so looking forward to sailing with all of you. It will be fun to share this with a terrific group of people!

Welcome! I have poly cystic kidney disease but, I'm not symptomatic yet. My father had a transplant 16 yrs ago and is doing fairly well. (he's well into his 70's now). I'm glad that your DH is doing well and that he did not have to wait that long for a kidney. That is encouraging. I think you will really enjoy your DCL cruise.

 

[mousemom11]

Hi Mary.

Yes, that is what my DH has. His only problem up until a few years ago was high blood pressure. Then his kidneys started failing in his early 40s. It was really rough for him because he had really bad anemia, one of the side effects of PKD. He started dialysis last November and was blessed to only have to be on it for 6 months before he transplanted.

The story of finding our living donor is pretty amazing. DH was approved for transplant last October. At choir rehearsal, I asked the choir to pray that the Lord would send a living donor for DH. One of the women in choir read that and heard a voice telling her "You are the donor. Go get tested". Sure enough, she was a match.

That's really great that your dad's kidney has lasted 16 years. I hope he has many more years with it, and that you stay symptom-free for a long time.

Can't wait to meet you in person!

Becky

 

[mommyarewegoingback]

Hi everyone-
We finally committed to a date! Yeah! My DH and I wanted to go on DCL in 1999 for our Honeymoon, but it was only 3 & 4 day cruises, so we did Beach Club instead. Then you know how it goes, buying a house, babies, toddlers...
We always said we'd be going on a Disney Cruise for our 10th anniversary. Our kids would finally be potty trained and willing to leave us and go to the kids club.

So here we are! We are very excited to join you all. I'm leaving in 19 days for our first trip to DL, but I'm planning our cruise instead. (most of the stuff for DL is already done, so we are just waiting for the day). We chose the DD because we love all things Disney and this one gives us more Disney than the others. I look forward to meeting all of you and learning from you all about the DCL experience (including the fish extender thing). This is our first cruise and we are super excited. I'm like an earlier poster, I'm already trying to figure out which excursions and reservations I need to make. My DH thinks I'm crazy, it's like 18mos away. I say, never too early!

At the time of the cruise, I will be turning 39. My DH will be 42, my DS 9 and my DD 5!

-Virginia

 

[binky1]

Welcome, welcome!!
It's actually only 16 months - so you've already lost 2 months !! Just kidding, don't worry many of us here suffer from OCPD (Obsessive Compulsive Planning Disorder) - which is not a bad thing!!

There are lots of other kids going in the same age group (my DD and my niece will both be 9) and my other DD will be 4 and my other niece will be 7. So, I'm sure they'll all have a great time.

Have a great trip to DL!

Cheers,
Lisa aka Binky1

 

[binky1]

Yeah, I finally figured it out. Thanks to Eric who is going on the DD in November '08, we have a logo.

Okay, so now how do I share it with the rest of you??? I've got it loaded on Photobucket but that's as far as I got.....

Cheers,
Lisa

 

[Fizzgig]

binky1: Look at my avatar! Erik is the bomb, isn't he?

 

[mousemom11]

Wow. That is awesome! What's the link to where it is? I'd love to put it in my sig.

 

[Justthe8ofus]

Hi everyone-
We finally committed to a date!
At the time of the cruise, I will be turning 39. My DH will be 42, my DS 9 and my DD 5!

-Virginia

Welcome Virginia!

 

[mrp4352]

Yeah, I finally figured it out. Thanks to Eric who is going on the DD in November '08, we have a logo.

Okay, so now how do I share it with the rest of you??? I've got it loaded on Photobucket but that's as far as I got.....

Cheers,
Lisa

Cool! In Photobucket, resize it for Message boards. After you save it, there will be several options with code next to it - select the one called IMG code. If you click in the field right behind where it says IMG code, then your computer will automatically copy the link for you. Then, just paste it into your message here on the DisBoards!

Hope this works for you!

 

[binky1]

Okay, like this??

http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/kk193/binky1_photos/DoubleDip09Logosignature.jpg

And then people can visit the site, copy the IMG code and paste it into their signature if they want??

Sorry, my in-house technical support is at work paying off our cruise so I can't bug him to help....

 

[mousemom11]

Got it. Thanks Binky!

 

[mrp4352]

That works!! Others can right click on the picture, save it or copy it and have it for their own use. Thanks for sharing!

 

[Justthe8ofus]

Okay, like this??

http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/kk193/binky1_photos/DoubleDip09Logosignature.jpg

And then people can visit the site, copy the IMG code and paste it into their signature if they want??

Sorry, my in-house technical support is at work paying off our cruise so I can't bug him to help....

Thanks! Right now I can't fit it in my sig but after my 9/7 wonder I should be able to put it in there.

 

[sandiegosusie]

Hi everyone-
We finally committed to a date! Yeah! My DH and I wanted to go on DCL in 1999 for our Honeymoon, but it was only 3 & 4 day cruises, so we did Beach Club instead. Then you know how it goes, buying a house, babies, toddlers...
We always said we'd be going on a Disney Cruise for our 10th anniversary. Our kids would finally be potty trained and willing to leave us and go to the kids club.

So here we are! We are very excited to join you all. I'm leaving in 19 days for our first trip to DL, but I'm planning our cruise instead. (most of the stuff for DL is already done, so we are just waiting for the day). We chose the DD because we love all things Disney and this one gives us more Disney than the others. I look forward to meeting all of you and learning from you all about the DCL experience (including the fish extender thing). This is our first cruise and we are super excited. I'm like an earlier poster, I'm already trying to figure out which excursions and reservations I need to make. My DH thinks I'm crazy, it's like 18mos away. I say, never too early!

At the time of the cruise, I will be turning 39. My DH will be 42, my DS 9 and my DD 5!

-Virginia

It's our anniversary cruise too! Welcome...always nice to hear of other cruise addicts! Have a great time at DL. We live about 50 minutes away, door to parking structure. We will be going in August and staying overnight at the hotel. My friend is coming from NJ and we are taking our 3 year-olds. Looking forward to meeting everyone. Anyone know how to resize the logo? I can't read the little thing...

 

[mousemom11]

Anyone know how to resize the logo? I can't read the little thing...

It's kind of a roundabout way, but this is what I did. I went to the photobucket website, www.photobucket.com, and did a search for binky1_photos. Then click on the link to go to the user's album. Once there, click on the logo and it will come up big enough to read.

The heading says "Double Dip Delight November 14, 2009". The bottom line reads "because there is no such thing as too much castaway cay!"

 

[mommyarewegoingback]

It's our anniversary cruise too! Welcome...always nice to hear of other cruise addicts! Have a great time at DL. We live about 50 minutes away, door to parking structure. We will be going in August and staying overnight at the hotel. My friend is coming from NJ and we are taking our 3 year-olds. Looking forward to meeting everyone. Anyone know how to resize the logo? I can't read the little thing...

Yeah!! That's too funny. We're going for 10 years too! My DH said last night that even though our DL trip is just 17 days away, he's more excited for DCL now that we've finally committed to it.

 

[Fizzgig]

Saw this today, I don't know if the tipping calculator we use has been updated:
============
Disney Cruise Line has modified the recommended tipping guidelines for any Disney Cruise sailing beginning July 13, 2008:

Voyage Length
7-night
Dining Room Server $28
Asst. Dining Room Server $21
Dining Room Head Server $7
Stateroom Host / Hostess $28
TOTALS PER GUEST $84

The 15% gratuity added to bar, beverage, wine and deck service remains the same.
===========

 

[binky1]

We'll be on for our anniversary too - 20 years!

I mentioned to DH last night that if we rebook onboard we'll save 10% and probably get $200 OBC - he started laughing he said - we're still over 16 months away, and you're thinking of the next one?!?!?