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

[stulaurie]

Hi everyone,

I haven't been posting too much, but I just had to put in my two cents. My family is very disapointed that the FE exchange will only be for children. We already have our FE personlized with all our names on it, and look forward for the treats every day. Also, I know some people who will not we traveling with children who were also looking forward to it.

Just wanted to voice my opinion.

Thanks

 

[binky1]

Hi everyone,

I haven't been posting too much, but I just had to put in my two cents. My family is very disapointed that the FE exchange will only be for children. We already have our FE personlized with all our names on it, and look forward for the treats every day. Also, I know some people who will not we traveling with children who were also looking forward to it.

Just wanted to voice my opinion.

Thanks

But OF COURSE you can still take part in the FE!!!! As long as I know that you're taking part, I will gladly drop a treat in and I'm sure my fellow Dippers agree!! We certainly wouldn't want anyone to feel left out!!

You already have your FE? You are way ahead of me! Although I do have the material, I just have to get creative and figure out what I'm doing. I stood in the fabric store last week for about an hour just staring at the wall - I think the ladies thought I had lost my mind... (although to be honest, I don't really have too far to go in that department!)

Cheers,

 

[strega7]

Ok guys, I booked, but not for this cruise. Thanks for letting me dream with you all....I will take care of the ship for you, we are going a couple of weeks prior.

Marci

 

[gomagic]

Hi everyone,

I haven't been posting too much, but I just had to put in my two cents. My family is very disapointed that the FE exchange will only be for children. We already have our FE personlized with all our names on it, and look forward for the treats every day. Also, I know some people who will not we traveling with children who were also looking forward to it.

Just wanted to voice my opinion.

Thanks

I'm glad you posted this because I feel the same way but was hesitant to post.

 

[binky1]

Ok guys, I booked, but not for this cruise. Thanks for letting me dream with you all....I will take care of the ship for you, we are going a couple of weeks prior.

Marci

Too bad you won't be joining us but at least you'll be going on a cruise!!! Be sure to leave her in good shape for us!!

gomagic - see my previous post - I think that as long as we know you'll be participating, we'd be glad to fill that FE!!

It's -22 here today but sunny. Can't wait to get out there and shovel - NOT!!

Cheers,

 

[glindamood]

It's -22 here today but sunny. Can't wait to get out there and shovel - NOT!!

Cheers,

I can't do your temps but the sun is shining. I almost (almost but I didn't) had to pull the blind at the office this morning as the sun was shining and I couldn't see. Instead, I leaned back in my desk chair and soaked it in! We got at least 18" of new snow - at least. It snowed all day yesterday and Saturday with the bulk of it coming down Saturday. The snow blower is broke so I have had to pay someone to plow the driveway (it is long) but Drew (youngest DS) will be home on spring break today and maybe he and oldest DS can get the blower off and we can get it welded and do it ourselves.

Take care and have a great day. Stay safe if you have ice and some of this white fluffy stuff.

 

[gomagic]

binky1
Actually I did see your post. I was just stating how I felt.

 

[Hypermommy]

DD15 doesn't want to miss school anymore (which I really can't complain about) but mostly, I just can't justify the cost any more. DH hasn't had much for work for several months now and I'm seeing major cutbacks where I work so at this point I'd rather have the deposit back to pay off some bills and plan a cheaper vacation somewhere this summer. We have a trip to Belize planned for April so that makes canceling the cruise not hurt "quite" as bad.

Wow! I could NEVER see either of the eating machines saying something like that. You should be really proud of how you're raising that girl.

Sorry to hear you're not going to make the cruise, but it's totally understandable. Glad you have the Belize trip to take the edge off the pain.

Ok guys, I booked, but not for this cruise. Thanks for letting me dream with you all....I will take care of the ship for you, we are going a couple of weeks prior.

Hope you have a great time on your cruise and that you get almost as good a group of DISsers. I would say as good a group but that just can't be. No one's as good as us! LOL

Hi everyone,

I haven't been posting too much, but I just had to put in my two cents. My family is very disapointed that the FE exchange will only be for children. We already have our FE personlized with all our names on it, and look forward for the treats every day. Also, I know some people who will not we traveling with children who were also looking forward to it.

Just wanted to voice my opinion.

Thanks

I'm glad you posted this because I feel the same way but was hesitant to post.

I'm glad you guys said something. I know all of us that are putting stuff together are trying to please as many people as possible. Now, of course, you'll never get to where you can please everyone, but we're trying. Glad you spoke up so we could know.

I'm with Binky... there's no reason the FEs really HAVE to be kid only. But just so you know what kind of stuff we're talking about, maybe those of us that have done it before can post the kind of stuff we put in FEs on our previous trips. For our last cruise I got a bunch of little birthday party bag type of treats from Oriental Trading. There was a small pirate yo yo, a small pirate beach bag, a couple of pirate pencils and a pirate pad of paper (small) in each baggie. We were doing FEs for everyone in the stateroom so I dropped one baggie with each of these items in each pocket of the FE.

That being said, I could certainly get enough stuff to include parent and kids, but that's the kind of stuff I'm looking at giving out. Stuff we received in our FE was similar types of stuff (candy and little birthday party bag type stuff). If any adults want to participate in the FE and are looking at getting/giving that type of stuff, that's great. That can certainly be accomodated.

Was that the type of stuff y'all were looking at giving/getting? Or was it something more involved? One thing I would hate to have happen is that y'all give out really nice stuff to the adults but get trinkets in return. I figure that'd make you feel put out and that wouldn't be good either.

I can't do your temps but the sun is shining. I almost (almost but I didn't) had to pull the blind at the office this morning as the sun was shining and I couldn't see. Instead, I leaned back in my desk chair and soaked it in! We got at least 18" of new snow - at least. It snowed all day yesterday and Saturday with the bulk of it coming down Saturday. The snow blower is broke so I have had to pay someone to plow the driveway (it is long) but Drew (youngest DS) will be home on spring break today and maybe he and oldest DS can get the blower off and we can get it welded and do it ourselves.

Okay, maybe for once I'm glad that I don't have the snow y'all are talking about. We've been without power since Saturday. But we have a fireplace which takes care of the type of cold we get here in Fla. And King Charming has an unlimited supply of firewood (he sells it during the winter... well... he sells whatever I don't claim as ours). And he has a fantastic generator that's been running our fridge and all three computers. So I have warmth and my internet. What else could I want?

 

[Travelbee]

I'm with Binky... there's no reason the FEs really HAVE to be kid only.

Agree. Maybe instead of separately kids and adults for FEs, we just keep a list of people who want to participate in the FEs (wait - wasn't that the original idea before I come up with the suggestion of SM for adults)?

One thing I would hate to have happen is that y'all give out really nice stuff to the adults but get trinkets in return. I figure that'd make you feel put out and that wouldn't be good either.

Yes, we would not want that to happen!

 

[gomagic]

After talking things over with my Mom last night, we have decided at this point to step away from this group. While we are sure you guys are a great group of people and we realize how hard you are planning the different activities, we just feel our decision is in our best interests. Enjoy planning your planning and who knows, maybe we will bump into some you on board anyways.

 

[loveysbydesign]

Drats...they just cut back my dh's hours this week...we're glad he still has a job but he'll be bringing home about $600 less each month from now til we don't know when. Looks like I'm going to hold off on booking our Dolphin Excursion for now as we still have to pay off the cruise yet. Sorry to those of you that I had offered to book for as a group, we didn't foresee this decrease in income. On a different note I had read on cruisecritic that they do have different specials offered each month so they may offer a better discount/deal then what we could have gotten as a group. If anyone else would like to handle it please feel free. We're just hoping this income decrease won't last too long as then we may have to bump to a shorter cruise...or yikes a Carnival one. I feel just feel terrible if we can't take this cruise, my 9 y.o. ds and 6 y.o. dd are so looking forward to it(as am I), I don't want to have to break their hearts.

 

[glindamood]

Drats...they just cut back my dh's hours this week...we're glad he still has a job but he'll be bringing home about $600 less each month from now til we don't know when. Looks like I'm going to hold off on booking our Dolphin Excursion for now as we still have to pay off the cruise yet. Sorry to those of you that I had offered to book for as a group, we didn't foresee this decrease in income. On a different note I had read on cruisecritic that they do have different specials offered each month so they may offer a better discount/deal then what we could have gotten as a group. If anyone else would like to handle it please feel free. We're just hoping this income decrease won't last too long as then we may have to bump to a shorter cruise...or yikes a Carnival one. I feel just feel terrible if we can't take this cruise, my 9 y.o. ds and 6 y.o. dd are so looking forward to it(as am I), I don't want to have to break their hearts.

Hugs to you and your family. I am sorry to hear that your DH's hours were reduced. Life has gotten so scary lately. Prayers and pixie dust to you that things turn around very soon.

 

[binky1]

loveysbydesign - no worries!! That's why we've held off committing to a Dolphin Excursion. DH's job is safe for now (we'll know more by May) and so we're just playing any excursions by ear.... (get it - by Mickey ear (haha)). Sorry, my sense of humour is a little skewed lately - my way of coping with stress.

Hugs and pixie dust being sent your way and here's hoping that you can stay with this cruise!!

 

[loveysbydesign]

Thank you for your thoughts. I feel so bad for my dh as he is doing 2 persons jobs...his and the 1 for the person they fired a couple months ago. He has been working 11-12 hour days just to get all the work done...he'd even eat lunch while he was working. That being said we've been using the extra $$ to pay for the cruise. He really doesn't mind working overtime(his usual schecule was about 9-10 hours not 11-12 hours per day) as he enjoys what he does and we can really use the $$$. He has no idea how he's going to get all this work done in 8 hours a day...he's so stressed right now. If my kids weren't getting older we'd just bump the cruise til next year(we had originally bumped it from Nov. '08) but then my dd would miss out on the club for her age group and Peter Pan is her favorite thing in the world. *sigh* oh well..I just hope Tinkerbell will sprinkle some dust our way.

 

[loveysbydesign]

I also have to mention that we've watched all the Podcasts on disneycruise.com and now my 20 month old runs to the computer and points at the moniter saying "mickey boat" when he want sot see it...he's doing it right now...it's so cute!

 

[LindaBabe]

Thank you for your thoughts. I feel so bad for my dh as he is doing 2 persons jobs...his and the 1 for the person they fired a couple months ago. He has been working 11-12 hour days just to get all the work done...he'd even eat lunch while he was working. That being said we've been using the extra $$ to pay for the cruise. He really doesn't mind working overtime(his usual schecule was about 9-10 hours not 11-12 hours per day) as he enjoys what he does and we can really use the $$$. He has no idea how he's going to get all this work done in 8 hours a day...he's so stressed right now.

Sending job dust to your dh. As a vet of over 4 decades in the workforce, I suggest he remind his supervisor that he is doing two peoples work ( phrase it - this is what i'm responsible for) and ask him/her to discuss / prioritize the work. If he thinks the super is not competent to do that, then he, himself should prioritize the work and do the critical work first. Critical means 'life or death' high impact work (ie we'll lose the contract if this doesn't get done! or 'we'll go to jail if this doesn't get done")

Meanwhile, make sure he eats right, gets some fresh air and exercise. He HAS to be proactive on his own behalf, too, k? This time too, will pass.

 

[Hypermommy]

After talking things over with my Mom last night, we have decided at this point to step away from this group. While we are sure you guys are a great group of people and we realize how hard you are planning the different activities, we just feel our decision is in our best interests. Enjoy planning your planning and who knows, maybe we will bump into some you on board anyways.

I thought all day yesterday about how to respond to this. Maybe it doesn't even need a response and I should just shut up (pipe down King Charming!), but I feel it necessary to say something here, not to anyone in particular but to anyone that might be feeling similarly.

Y'all, these ladies that are putting activities together for the group are doing so out of the goodness of their hearts and out of their desire to make a magical experience even a bit more so. I've talked offline with a couple of our Pixie-Dusters (as I'm going to start calling these wonderful ladies unless someone can please come up with a better name) and the very idea that they're leaving out someone's wishes is something they've had a hard time dealing with. But let's be realistic here... if we don't tell them what we want then they can't know. They're good -- very, very good -- at spreading the pixie dust and I think we have a lot of fun activities in the offing for our cruise, but if we don't tell them how we want things to operate they can't know.

Now I know that real life gets in the way and sometimes we can't all get on the board as often as we want to (Hypermommy looks away and whistles in a rather guilty fashion ). And I know that sometimes things move pretty fast around here. But believe me, it's only going to get faster as the next 261 days go by. If you get back online and find that a decision has been made that is contrary to something you've already planned on, then say something. It may very well be that, like with the FE thing, a solution that encompasses your needs may be a very easy one to come up with.

Okay, I'll shut up now. It just bugged me to hear our Pixie-Dusters so concerned that they'd hurt someone's feelings when they're doing the very best they can to include everyone. Are they perfect? Well, despite my initial answer, honesty forces me to say that they probably aren't. But they're pretty darn close and they've taken on this extra responsibility so we all can have a bit more fun and I just think they should be appreciated and don't want to see them feeling bad.

Okay, this time I'll really shut up.

Drats...they just cut back my dh's hours this week...we're glad he still has a job but he'll be bringing home about $600 less each month from now til we don't know when.

Loveys, I'm so sorry to hear about the cutbacks and even sorrier to hear about how your DH has to deal with all that stress and extra work. You know, LindaBabe pegged it... this too shall pass. Just hang in there and keep on wishing on that star. And don't forget the power of prayer. I don't want to get too religious because I don't want to offend anyone (who, me? ) but I really do believe in the power of prayer. Just pray with all your might and don't worry about that sparkly dust that's going to cover you from head to toe because that'll be the prayers and pixie dust I'm sending your way.

...playing any excursions by ear.... (get it - by Mickey ear (haha)). Sorry, my sense of humour is a little skewed lately - my way of coping with stress.

Groan!!!!! But actually I love it!!!!!!!!!!! Wonder how many more Disney references we can make of daily life. I can't make any right now... I'm off to get my 2nd cup of coffee for the morning.

I also have to mention that we've watched all the Podcasts on disneycruise.com and now my 20 month old runs to the computer and points at the moniter saying "mickey boat" when he want sot see it...he's doing it right now...it's so cute!

Oh now that's just too stinkin' cute! Hope that baby (and his momma) will let me give him lots of hugs when we're playing together on our Mickey boat!

 

[gomagic]

I thought all day yesterday about how to respond to this. Maybe it doesn't even need a response and I should just shut up (pipe down King Charming!), but I feel it necessary to say something here, not to anyone in particular but to anyone that might be feeling similarly.

Y'all, these ladies that are putting activities together for the group are doing so out of the goodness of their hearts and out of their desire to make a magical experience even a bit more so. I've talked offline with a couple of our Pixie-Dusters (as I'm going to start calling these wonderful ladies unless someone can please come up with a better name) and the very idea that they're leaving out someone's wishes is something they've had a hard time dealing with. But let's be realistic here... if we don't tell them what we want then they can't know. They're good -- very, very good -- at spreading the pixie dust and I think we have a lot of fun activities in the offing for our cruise, but if we don't tell them how we want things to operate they can't know.

Now I know that real life gets in the way and sometimes we can't all get on the board as often as we want to (Hypermommy looks away and whistles in a rather guilty fashion ). And I know that sometimes things move pretty fast around here. But believe me, it's only going to get faster as the next 261 days go by. If you get back online and find that a decision has been made that is contrary to something you've already planned on, then say something. It may very well be that, like with the FE thing, a solution that encompasses your needs may be a very easy one to come up with.

Okay, I'll shut up now. It just bugged me to hear our Pixie-Dusters so concerned that they'd hurt someone's feelings when they're doing the very best they can to include everyone. Are they perfect? Well, despite my initial answer, honesty forces me to say that they probably aren't. But they're pretty darn close and they've taken on this extra responsibility so we all can have a bit more fun and I just think they should be appreciated and don't want to see them feeling bad.

Okay, this time I'll really shut up.

Let's see, where do I start. First of all, too much is being read into what I posted before. Our decision has nothing to do with the plans that have been made and/or changed with this group. Everything that you all have planned so far sounds great and what not, it really does. When I posted before, I didn't feel the need to explain the reasoning behind our decision, which had more to do with me than my mom, but I guess I should have. Bear with me as I figure out how to say this. I for one am not the type of person who is real comfortable amongst a group of strangers. Because of issues in the past it takes a long time for me to break the ice so to speak and let people in. Those closest to me know this and accept this. You might be thinking that I can post on this message board with no problem. Well, it is difficult for me here too but I can hide behind my screen name and no one knows me -I think. Anyways, after much thought, I decided it wouldn't have been fair to all of you for me to even try to participate with this group in person because I most likely would stayed to the back of the crowd and kept to myself. Please believe me when I say deep down wanted to the opportunity to meet all of you but it would prove to be too difficult for me in such a short period of time on the cruise. I hope that makes sense.

 

[Hypermommy]

Let's see, where do I start. First of all, too much is being read into what I posted before. Our decision has nothing to do with the plans that have been made and/or changed with this group. Everything that you all have planned so far sounds great and what not, it really does. When I posted before, I didn't feel the need to explain the reasoning behind our decision, which had more to do with me than my mom, but I guess I should have. Bear with me as I figure out how to say this. I for one am not the type of person who is real comfortable amongst a group of strangers. Because of issues in the past it takes a long time for me to break the ice so to speak and let people in. Those closest to me know this and accept this. You might be thinking that I can post on this message board with no problem. Well, it is difficult for me here too but I can hide behind my screen name and no one knows me -I think. Anyways, after much thought, I decided it wouldn't have been fair to all of you for me to even try to participate with this group in person because I most likely would stayed to the back of the crowd and kept to myself. Please believe me when I say deep down wanted to the opportunity to meet all of you but it would prove to be too difficult for me in such a short period of time on the cruise. I hope that makes sense.

<Hypermommy breathes a big ol' sigh of relief!!!!>

It makes perfect sense and I totally, totally understand as does, I'm sure, everyone else. That's one of the beauty things about the internet is the ability to hide behind a screen name. It's a lot harder in real life, isn't it?

But who knows... maybe after a couple of drinks of the day you'll find yourself feeling more comfortable. If you feel that you wish to join in, please know that you'll be more than welcome. And if you don't feel comfortable with that... if you're more comfortable just sitting back and watching our antics from afar, please feel free to do that too. Whatever works best for you.

Thanks for taking the time to let us know what's going on.

 

[gomagic]

<Hypermommy breathes a big ol' sigh of relief!!!!>

It makes perfect sense and I totally, totally understand as does, I'm sure, everyone else. That's one of the beauty things about the internet is the ability to hide behind a screen name. It's a lot harder in real life, isn't it?

But who knows... maybe after a couple of drinks of the day you'll find yourself feeling more comfortable. If you feel that you wish to join in, please know that you'll be more than welcome. And if you don't feel comfortable with that... if you're more comfortable just sitting back and watching our antics from afar, please feel free to do that too. Whatever works best for you.

Thanks for taking the time to let us know what's going on.

I'm glad you understand. You guys really are great!