12/01/07 Western December 1, 2007 - Let's get the party started!

[lbgraves]

We have 5520 on hold for the 12/1/07 cruise and will be putting the deposit on it in a couple days. It will be myself, DH, DS9, & DD7 at time of cruise. We will be celebrating our 10th Anniversary and our 5th Annual Holiday cruise on DCL. Who else will be joining us?

DISer Manifest

Popovich, DH, DD8, DS7 6622
kimszath, DH, DS8 5020
loriace, DD10, parents 8034
jlowejd5, DH, 6076 & 6078
crystaldri, DH, DD11, DS10
mom+3girls, DD14, DD12 6071
missmulan, DH, DD, DS
Hanover, DH, DS10, DS6, parents, FIL 6546, 6548, 6550
goofyfreak, DH
CJLKIM, DH, DIL, SIL (DD8 & DD12 unsure)

 

[Popovich]

Lisa,

I called the TA today and left a message. I think we'll be joining you It will be myself, DH, DD 8 and DS 7. We were on the 12/3 Western last year and the 11/27 Eastern in '04.

Can't wait to be back on board the Magic !

Gailyn

 

[kimszath]

Hey Lisa!!!! We'll be your neighbors! We're booked in SPR 5522--Can't wait!!!! At time of cruise, it'll be me, DH, and DS almost 9. HOORAY!!!! Now I get to add another countdown timer!!!! Am I overly excited at this point? Gailyn--will be nice to meet you, too!!! I met Lisa on our first 7-day a couple of years ago after chatting with her here on the DIS boards for what seemed like forever--it's so great to already have friends on board!

Now I have two threads to keep up with--also going on the Dec 26, 2006 four-nighter (which just happens to be on the MAGIC!) this year (which is costing us $600 more than the 7-nighter... OUCH... but hey--'tis the season, right???)
Ciao!

 

[lbgraves]

Kim, I don't like your countdown for this cruise. That is too long! I told DH that you & family are our neighbors & DS will be exited to have a couple kids his age on the ship that he can email beforehand. Welcome Gailyn. Right now I am doing a bad job of keeping up with the website for our 12/9/06 group. It's a chore to get in there & just get it done. I have done them for the last 2 groups & it has really helped us to get to know each other better without putting all of our personal info on a regular message board. We have found that one family who lives in OH comes to our town in NC every year for vacation & were able to meet them before the cruise. We have now gone on 2 cruises & spent a week in the summer visiting since & have the one this year booked...and possibly this one if they don't go on a med cruise. It is great for the kids to be able to see everyone in their age group too so they can email & have plans to meet their new friends once onboard. This is the earliest that we have ever booked a cruise. The first two were booked around 11 months, the next was 14, and the fourth was 18 months...which I thought was far enough ahead. LOL!

 

[kimszath]

Sorry Lisa! Should I get rid of the countdown??? Maybe until we're inside of 16 months or something???? I'm just tickled to have two of them going at once!!! I was really surprised that Mike was so cool with the idea, especially when I told him it was even less than I thought... So what's the deal with transferring? I've had no trouble whatsoever with DU, and I just booked with Disney directly since I could speak to a human on the phone, and ensure that I got the room assignment RIGHT THEN while it was still available. I know it'll be a long time before any FL discounts or other stuff like that come along... do I just need to email DU later and ask them to pick up my reservation? Is it that easy? I would have emailed them first for the quote, but 4 of the 6 SPRs were already gone... couldn't take the chance!

 

[lbgraves]

Nah! Leave it up, Kim! It just hit hard. I'll concentrate on the one that I have coming up this year. Yes, it's that easy. I would wait until they were offering a special rebate.

 

[loriace]

We'll be on the 12-1-07 too. It will by myself, my parents and my daughters who will be 10 at the time. Can't wait!!!

 

[kimszath]

Welcome loriace!!! Funny... I think there are more people on this thread already that there are on my 12/26/06 thread!!! Lisa, do you think people spend more time on the boards when they're on a full 7-day cruise? The 12/26 is my first 4-nighter...

 

[lbgraves]

Kim, after our first cruise group thread the 2nd was a major disappointment. We hardly met with anyone at all. The best thing for us was meeting John's family, who we have become great friends with. I have heard that the 3 & 4 day cruises just don't get the responses on the meets thread. Perhaps it is because after cruising, most DISers have to go for 7 days?

 

[kimszath]

You're right, Lisa. And I bet folks really don't feel like they have enough time to "get involved" with other folks on their cruise... Well, I do hope this one will be different! I'd think people who are willing to pull their kids out of school for a week probably already have similar attitudes, and maybe a bit more in common! I haven't really given it much thought... are there fewer kids overall on cruises "during the school year?" Or are there just as many kids, but younger (not quite school age)? Since Luke was in preschool the last time we went, it didn't occur to me to pay attention!

 

[lbgraves]

There are always lots of kids of all ages on board when we cruise. All three times there have been over 750 kids in the clubs age 3-12 alone. That's not counting the non PTd or teens. You do have more opps to get together on the 7 day cruises. For us, it's the fact that if we are going to have to drive 12 hours each way, we will go to WDW for a day or two before the cruise & then do a 7 day to make it worth our while & to be able to completely relax on the ship. Be sure that you see Hurcules this year on the Wonder because you wont see it on the Magic. Twice Charmed was AMAZING though!!! We went to the matinee & the evening show & loved it each time. Franco was fantastic! ROFL!

As far as pulling the kids out of school, DS is in the pre AG program at school in the first grade, is reading 3rd & 4th grade books, is learning multiplication with very little help from me, so he is basically bored in school. Taking him on the cruise allows him to learn in a different environment. DD is doing really well right now in Kindergarten currently reading at the level that she needed to reach by the end of the year to go to first grade, so I am not concerned right now. Of course they will be in 2nd & 3rd grade for this cruise. DS will be taking EOG tests that year, but they normally are not scheduled in December.

I feel that the recharging & bonding that we do as a family on the cruise is worth more than them being in school that week. As you know, Kim, DH's job has him away from home 50% of the time. When he is in town he goes in early, works late, and is often working on the laptop or on a cell phone call. He goes in some Saturdays too. He is currently in a graduate program and doing his internship with the NSTB in DC for 3 1/2 months. The cruise is the only time during the year that these kids can see their dad for an entire week without worrying about if he has to work. I will go before the school board if I need to if it ever comes to that. Life is too short, unfortunantly. Little Emma & Sopie made us open our eyes & learn that. I don't want to have any regrets.

 

[kimszath]

Hmm... is it the same "Hercules the Muse-ical" that was on two years ago??? That was such a cute show! I really liked the three Muses--they were great!!! We won't get to see anything on the Wonder--our 4-nighter is actually on the Magic (they've got a weird schedule because of the holiday cruises--the Wonder goes out Dec 24th, and then the Magic goes out again on the 26th). I've heard about the newer shows--can't wait!!! I'm hoping that this time, Luke will be more interested in the clubs. He really wanted to be with us last time, plus Grandma was with us, and he never gets to see her. I just want him to enjoy himself with the kids, and give me and Mike some grownup time! We never leave him with a sitter, so we don't really do a lot of Mom-and-Dad time out on the town! (Of course, now that I've semi-retired, and he's working from home, it's not like we don't have alone time together--just not in the evenings with restaurants and entertainment!)

 

[lbgraves]

Oh well, I guess that you will see Twice Charmed then. Great show though! Your DS will have to start emailing my DS...if we can explain to them that they wont see each other until the cruise AFTER the next one. LOL! They can hang out in the lab together!

 

[lbgraves]

We'll be on the 12-1-07 too. It will by myself, my parents and my daughters who will be 10 at the time. Can't wait!!!

Welcome to the group, Loraice! Have you guys been on the Magic before?

 

[loriace]

Nope, this is our first..... I can't believe its still so far away! But it will take me that long to pay for it.lol This thread will be great, because I'm sure as it gets closer I will have a thousand questions and it will be nice to have veterans to direct them to. I just got the papers confirming our reservation today, and since the deposit is non-refundable, I guess its really going to happen now.

 

[lbgraves]

WOW! Which one of the suites are you in? You are doing it right for a first cruise.

 

[kimszath]

Wow Loriace... that means you're springing for the BIG cabin!!! HEY EVERYBODY--PARTY AT LORI'S ROOM!!! Good for you!!! We might make the splurge one day... when I decide to get a job again, maybe! UGH... I do NOT want to go back to work. Oh well... at least it can't be any worse than being on the hook for Uncle Sam 24/7/365.

Lisa--I'd love to get the boys in touch with each other. What do you think about maybe hooking them up towards the end of this year? Maybe we could even run into you when you're down for your cruise in December this year, if you have a minute or two to spare? You're on the 12/9 Magic, right? We're about an hour from the Port, and about an hour from DisneyWorld. Just keep it in your hip pocket, and let me know if it figures in your plans at all. We usually take a day in early December to pull Luke out of school and go to WDW MK for a day when it's nice and cool, and not so crowded... always link it up with Rainforest Cafe--Luke loves it. By the way, you're always welcome in our home, and would be more than welcome to use us as a stopover when coming or going to the Port. We've got a nice guest bedroom, and Luke has bunkbeds!

 

[jlowejd5]

We just got back from a Land/Sea, and we rebooked onboard for the 12/1/07 Western. This will be our fourth cruise, but first on the Magic. Two Land/Sea (one at BC, this one at the Poly), plus a 4-day for our honeymoon two years ago.

Funny story: about a year ago our friend Mike was in town visiting. We put the hard sell on him for a Disney vacation (he's 32, and neither he nor his sister had ever been). Sat him in the big comfy leather chair and showed him the WDW and DCL videos until we broke him. He calls his sister, gets her to agree.

We had an absolute blast last week. They ended up bringing their dad and step-mom for the whole thing, plus the step-mom's family for the WDW piece of it. We all had a really great time.

Flash forward to the last night on the ship. Mike, DW and I are almost in tears (Dreams does it to me every time). We head back to do some packing, and Mike stops to talk to the girl at the re-booking desk. Ten minutes later, we're out on the verandah and he's giving US the hard sell. He's good, so we're re-booked.

If nothing else, it made getting off the ship a little less sad, since we know we're going back in like 627 days.

Whoo!!

 

[jlowejd5]

Oh, and I'll fix my signature thingie tomorrow at work, I promise.

 

[lbgraves]

Welcome!!!