12/10/05 ~ Anyone else cruising.....??

[missmulan]

same here Lisa....pixie dust your way....


Jenny

 

[jordanyosh]

Lisa, thoughts and prayers go out to your extended family.


I do have a few questions about both WDW and Cruise...

1) I beliieve we will be seeing the Candlelight Processional, but I would like to know if the MVMCP is worth it?

2) Crowds at this time of year at the parks?

3) Is it better to do excursions through DCL or book them on your own?

4) Are there any special Xmas events on the ship?

 

[Jhalkias]

Lisa,

So sorry to hear of your family's loss . . . it must be very difficult with them being so very far from home . . . .

Jordanyosh - as to your questions . . .

1. We have enjoyed MVMCP every time we have done it. The crowds are usually a bit lighter than what you would see during the day, and the major attractions (but not Toontown last year) are open. There is free hot chocolate and cookies, and a free photo op for your family. The neatest thing is seeing "snow" on Main Street USA - it is almost magical.

2. Up until last year, we had always experienced lighter crowds. Last year was a ZOO! I kept asking cast members what was going on this year, and everyone was also taken by surprise. I am guessing a bunch of pent up demand still stemming from 9/11. So, who knows? WDW was busier last year at this time than the same time any other year in the last several years (at least in our view). Crowds ARE lighter though regardless than "peak" times.

3. There are a lot of threads on this throughout the DCL boards. We have typically done DCL excursions, but we are not big excursion people. We love the ship too much, and may do one excursion each cruise. Search the boards here for varied opinions, which I believe would point you toward doing them on your own.

4. Yes, there are different things going on. See if you can find some Navigators from this time of year posted. I'll try to dig mine out from last year and email them to you as PDFs if you like.

John

 

[lbgraves]

On the ship there is a beautiful tree that is up to the top of the landing on deck 5. They have a gingerbread decorating workshop, carolers in the evening, and Mrs. Claus read the children a story one night after the late show in the atrium. We went the Thursday before our 12/4 cruise & didn't see much of a crowd at all. I think that it depends on which day you are at the parks though. The weekends seem to be busier.

 

[lillygator]

Lisa - big hugs to you and your extended family....

I haven't been here in a while but with an 8 week old and a 2 year old I am sure you all can forgive me!

I just watched the DCL special on the Travel Channel (not like I haven't seen it a million times) but it got me so psyched for our trip!!

MVMCP - so worth it in my opinion!! We went last year and are going to go the 9th, I believe this year....if those dates I saw posted were correct.

As far as the weather in December in the Caribbean....we have always vacationed in the islands in December - for us the water is a tad chilly but I am a native Floridian so that may have something to do with it....but for the most part the weather and water are usually beautiful!


I did book the REAS package....mainly for the ease of booking Palo dinner and brunch ressies...since once we board one will be heading to Flounder's and the other to the kid's club.........I can't wait to figure out which dining rotation to choose and which night to go to Palo's....


We are headed back to Disney 5/18...staying at Coronado Springs this time...I am excited - I just love Disney! I even got the CRT for both DD's, nah - who am I kidding - I LOVE eating in the castle! I also booked the "new" princess dinner at Epcot...I am anxious to see what food they serve!

I see we have some new cruisers to our thread!! Welcome!!! Just think only 8 months to go!! Now, if I can only get this darn baby weight off!!

Here are some Disney pics....
this is Princess Haley with Eeyore....

DH and DD Samantha

 

[MrsMork]

Lisa, Prayers for your family.

Lillygater, what sweet girls!

Jordan, Do NOT miss the Candlelight Processional. We saw it 3 times last year. We also went to MVMCP for the first time last year and it was fun. Recommend you do that also. We went on Thursday night last year. The Friday night MVMCP was sold out, so I am sure it was much more crowded than the Thursday night party.

Wow! 8 months

 

[jordanyosh]

Thank you so much for the info/advice. It will definitely help in the planning process. My cousin, Wendy, and her family are DVC members and will be staying either at BWV or BCV for a week before the cruise. I was only going to join them for a day or 2 before the cruise. However, it seems that they have enough points for me to get a studio from Tuesday-Saturday. It will be a very generous Xmas/Birthday present to me from them. So I am definitely more excited about the WDW portion now that I will have more than 2 days to enjoy it.

John, I hear you on the excursions. I love the ship so much that when we did the 4 day a few years ago. I got off at Nassau for maybe an hour and didn't get off at all at Freeport. I guess I just feel a little guilty making the journey all the way down to the Virgin Islands and not getting off the boat....We'll see. I do know the ship tends to be empty when it is at port.

Great pics Lillygator.

 

[LittletonLinda]

I think I will skip the wine tasting and tea with Wendy this time around. Anything previous cruisers will skip? Just wondering.

Linda
WDW Dec 2004 Port Orleans
7 day Western Jan 2003
WDW May 2002 All Star Sports
Disneyland July 2001

 

[cristit14]

We didn't do any excursions on our 4 day, but this time I think I want to do the Doubloon Sail and Snorkle on St. Thomas. The kids would get a big kick out of being on a "Pirate" ship. Then on St. Martin I think we will probably just find a beach to go to on our own. We love the beach! It's tough living in a land-locked state.

Lillygator, those are great pictures! We forgive you for not being around lately. You have been a little busy. I watched the DCL show on the Travel channel the other night too. I had never seen the whole thing before. I always seem to see the last half.

We will probably skip Disney Dreams this time. DH will probably want to skip Golden Mickeys too, but I loved that one. We didn't really do much on the ship last time besides the shows (and the pool). This time I wouldn't mind doing the Galley tour and/or Bridge tour. Has anyone done those? DH said that he has to do Bingo a couple of times too because he could win enough to pay off the cruise.

Linda, How are you liking the snow today? How much do you have? We probably have around 5 inches so far and it is coming down like crazy still. I think it is supposed to keep it up all day.

Can't wait to be cruising!

 

[MrsMork]

We have done theisland tour on both St Thomas and St Maarten. We really enjoy taking the island tours the first visit. They don't take a lot of time and give you an overview of the island including history. They also are not very expensive. Our first trip we did the island tour of St Maarten and still had time to do the Golden Eagle Catamaran snorkel which is WAY too much fun!

We will be with my uncle and aunt who are 79 and 74, so will probably do these tours again.

 

[cristit14]

I wouldn't mind doing an island tour, but I don't think it would work well with the kids. They would get bored being on a tour bus for very long.

 

[lbgraves]

ITA with you Cristy, I would be asking for trouble or a mutiny if I tried to take the kids on a tour. I did the galley tour with John's wife last cruise & thought that it was nice. It was amazing to see the small amount of space that everything is done in & the huge amounts that are produced. We don't miss the big shows. Both the kids & us love them. Last time we went to both the matinee & night time show for Disney Dreams. Will miss Herc but am looking forward to seeing the new Twice Charmed show. We don't go to WWTBAM or the Movie night usually so that gives us a couple free nights. We don't go to the clubs due to the smoke so that wouldn't be an option for us anyway. I don't drink, so no wine tasting but we haven't done the tea with Wendy yet. It doesn't sound like it takes very long but I will have to wait & see which day it will be. I might just get tickets & play it by ear with the kids.

 

[MrsMork]

We did take DN, who was 7 at the time, with us on the tours of these island tours and she did fine. There are several stops, some with gift shops . You are not in the bus for the whole 3 hours. In and out, in and out, seeing the island.

Or, you might consider the clubs for the kids, if you are really interested in seeing the area. We went on a long island tour of Antigua with other DISers last Dec and their kids wanted to stay in the club.

 

[lbgraves]

Honestly, we are fine with just walking around for an hour. The kids want to stay at the pool so we have to stay with them and we enjoy the relative quiet by the MP while the ship is in port. Our kids were 3 & 5 our first cruise 2 years ago. There was no point even dreaming about it. LOL!

 

[LittletonLinda]

Hey Cristi!

We have about 12 inches in the "Ranch." I see that all the schools are closed tomorrow. That makes for another long day! I did have to tell my kids about the cruise, since they kept seeing my computer on the Disney cruise pages! They are excited but say it is too far away! We are going on a Lake Powell houseboat trip in June, with no a/c, generator for electricity, pit toilet, etc. Should be quite a change from Disney!

As for Tea with Wendy, it was cute for a one time thing. She talks about tea and manners briefly. Then it is a photo opportunity with Wendy. Jim Belushi sat 1 table away when I went, but then left when his approx. 2 year old son was acting up. Happens to all of us I guess!

I hope my kids like the OC better this time. They are more used to being away from us, then when we went two years ago. I met so many people that took their kids to the club one time, and the kids didn't like it,so they didn't take them back. I kept trying, and by the end they liked it, they just seemed to think they were "missing" something if they weren't with us. I even tried saying we were going to take a nap or exercise, knowing that they wouldn't want to do that!

Linda

 

[lbgraves]

LOL! It sounds like Jim Belushi is a real person who realizes that his kids can be too much for others too. How considerate of him. DS likes the club, though on our last cruise he was with the 5-7s & wanted to play with DD & John's DD who were usually at the pool. This cruise they will all be in the 5-7s so maybe the girls will enjoy it a bit more. On our first cruise DS was in the club ALOT!

 

[cristit14]

Linda, We also got about 12 inches here too. I did have to go to work this morning, but once I got out of the neighborhood roads were fine.

DD enjoyed the club more than DS did last time. They still basically only went in the evening though. Rachel had a friend though and spent a lot of time with her during the day at the pool. I think that Jacob will like the club better this time since he will have William to play with too.

 

[LittletonLinda]

hi again,

Last time I put my DS (5 then) in with the 3-4 year olds, so he could be with DD(3 then). It was too boring for him, and she wasn't that used to being away from us. She paged me when I was in the wine tasting, because she got water on her shirt! So, some new rules will be established this time! We took them to the shows every night. The only one they weren't that interested in was WWTBAM. I am glad Hercules is gone, but there were some great singers in that one. I hope to actually make it into one of the "night clubs" this time. I also hope to go to the adult pool! Whoo hoo, that would be living. Just booked the escape/romance package today. Can't handle the stress of Palo reservations!

 

[lbgraves]

Making palo resies was the easiest thing we did on our last cruise. We had skipped it the first time since we didn't know if 3 yo DD would stay in the club at all. This past one we went to both dinner & brunch. I think that right now we are planning on doing the brunch but not sure about dinner. We enjoy the regular dinner rotations too.

 

[LittletonLinda]

Since the entire cast& production of According to Jim was on our cruise, Palo was very difficult to get. Disney claimed that they weren't getting special treatment in terms of Palo, but if you talked to the "commoners" it was a different story! We loved watching them film though, and Jim Belushi did a harmonica/rock band type thing on one of the nights that we unfortunately missed. That would have been great, but DS had ear pain. I will bring more Motrin this time around $11 in the shop!

Linda