12/19/2009 - 12/26/2009 Magical Christmas Cruise! It's not that far Away?

[3DAN]

Hello to everyone. It looks like we'll be joining you on the 19th. We'll have two rooms, but don't know which ones yet because we got two cat 12s. There are five of us this time. My family of four(this is DCL #9) and also a newbie, my son's girlfriend. They are both 17. I'll try to see if I can catch up on the thread.
Bill,,,,aka 3DAN

 

[3DAN]

Wow,,,,, it looks like I am the old man of the boards on this thread. Can you guys tell me if you know of any place on St. Marten or St. Thomas that might have jet skis to rent? Maybe , Orient beach? We've been there, St. Marten, before, but just went on the tour of the island.
Bill

 

[itutorfortravel]

Wow,,,,, it looks like I am the old man of the boards on this thread. Can you guys tell me if you know of any place on St. Marten or St. Thomas that might have jet skis to rent? Maybe , Orient beach? We've been there, St. Marten, before, but just went on the tour of the island.
Bill

Hi Bill! Welcome to the thread

We went on this itinerary in April and one of the girls I met told me that her family rented jet skis on a beach called Bikini Beach, I think...I'll try to check on that and let you know...it might also be a good question for the main DCL board. We didn't do anything like that last spring because it was just DH, DD, and me, and DD is not old enough for the jet skis. But this time around, my step-DD is coming with us and she and DH are doing the jet ski excursion at CC on Christmas Day. They are really looking forward to that!

If you want to be included on the roll call, send me a PM with your info. If you want, check out page 1 of this thread and click the roll call link at the top of the page. That will give you an idea of everyone in the group and what kind of info we are sharing on the roll call.

Also, if you decide you want to do the FE exchange, let us know. I've started compiling a list of those who are interested as I do the roll call. Downrivermama is our official FE coordinator and will handle all the details of things as we get closer to our sailing date.

 

[itutorfortravel]

Anyone know what the dining rotation schedule is yet? My fiance and I are trying to get our ducks in a row before we can book all of our reservations.

And a question- I saw that a bunch of you are CC members- will it be difficult for us to get the excursions we wanted, since we can only book 75 days ahead?

Robyn, you won't know your dining rotation until you board. They leave that information waiting in your cabin. I don't think DCL even does dining assignments until about 2 weeks out. At least that is what I have been told...I would just book Palo for times that you think will work best for you. In April it was our first cruise and so we basically tried to avoid doing it on days when we'd be on long excursions. We much preferred to go on sea days. We were told to avoid going on the night that they served lobster in the main dining room, but as it turned out that is exactly the night we went. But it was no problem because we still got to order it along with other very delicious things...mmmm! If you don't get a Palo time when your booking window opens, don't be disheartened. We were only able to get a Palo dinner and high tea time when we booked our first cruise. I really wanted brunch, but no times were available. However, during our first day at sea, I called Palo and was able to get a time for brunch on our 2nd sea day. It was perfect!

 

[Pluto 2]

Anyone know what the dining rotation schedule is yet? My fiance and I are trying to get our ducks in a row before we can book all of our reservations.

And a question- I saw that a bunch of you are CC members- will it be difficult for us to get the excursions we wanted, since we can only book 75 days ahead?

just looked for you for excursions. theres only three that are fully booked right now.
they are coral world ocean and island drive st thomas
historical st thomas walking tour
st john mini boat adventure.

 

[robynchic]

just looked for you for excursions. theres only three that are fully booked right now.
they are coral world ocean and island drive st thomas
historical st thomas walking tour
st john mini boat adventure.

Thanks! I just checked the list of excursions we plan to do, and none of our options are fully booked yet! What time does the reservation line open? The 75 day mark is a Monday, and I don't want to miss out!

 

[momtomari]

just looked for you for excursions. theres only three that are fully booked right now.
they are coral world ocean and island drive st thomas
historical st thomas walking tour
st john mini boat adventure.

darn it i knew i should have paid my cruise off at the 90 day mark. this will be our 4th cruise with 5 and 6 already booked as well. i was hoping to do the coral world marine park by land and sea in st thomas. oh well will start looking for something else now

 

[drizzt117]

Thanks! I just checked the list of excursions we plan to do, and none of our options are fully booked yet! What time does the reservation line open? The 75 day mark is a Monday, and I don't want to miss out!

Hey Robyn,

Everything is open to book at midnight on the 75th day. However, I don't think there are phone lines open, but you can book everything on the DCL website. Just go to the site, and enter your confirmation number. It's pretty self explanatory after that. Let us know if you need any help with the process.

Thomas

 

[bpescar]

I noticed we have two more families listed. Please remember everyone that id:shevis will not be traveling this time.Michele is my daughter and she had some family situations that has kept her from cruising this time but we girls will be cruising next year. Mark and I are so excited to be cruising by ourselves for the first time. This is our 5th cruise and we have always had the family with us. We have been practicing our dance moves and dusted off our dance shoes! We went shopping and bought some material for making our FE. I think we will surprize you with our ideas. Bye for now. I have to go and earn my shopping money.

 

[itutorfortravel]

I noticed we have two more families listed. Please remember everyone that id:shevis will not be traveling this time.Michele is my daughter and she had some family situations that has kept her from cruising this time but we girls will be cruising next year. Mark and I are so excited to be cruising by ourselves for the first time. This is our 5th cruise and we have always had the family with us. We have been practicing our dance moves and dusted off our dance shoes! We went shopping and bought some material for making our FE. I think we will surprize you with our ideas. Bye for now. I have to go and earn my shopping money.

Hi Barbara,

You did mention to me that your DD was not cruising, but I guess I did not realize that was "shelvis". Sorry! I'm fixing it now

Kimberly

 

[itutorfortravel]

Good morning,

Just wanted to ask everyone to take a moment to check the roll call. I want to be sure that everything is correct and that everyone is included!

Please be sure that your family is listed if you want them to be and that all info is correct, including a note if you want to participate in the FE exchange.

If you are not on the roll call and want to be or if something needs to be edited for your family, just send me a PM with your info & I'll take care of it asap!

Thanks, and have a great day!

Kimberly

 

[lovesDCL]

thanks for taking care of all the roll call info Kimberly!

your hard work will make it easy for us all to stay organized!

 

[bpescar]

Thank you for taking care of the lists. It really does help so much in the planning stages.
This is going to be great. October is a busy month for us personally so the time will fly by and then...we will be looking towards Thanksgiving. After that me and hubby in the treehouse villa the night before we sail at Saratoga Springs (DVC members) then joining all of you for good times. After the cruise we decided to take two extra days at Saratoga Springs and relax before jumping back into reality. Life just doesn't get any better than this... Any of you on the list DVC members? Just curious.

 

[riggins]

Thank you for taking care of the lists. It really does help so much in the planning stages.
This is going to be great. October is a busy month for us personally so the time will fly by and then...we will be looking towards Thanksgiving. After that me and hubby in the treehouse villa the night before we sail at Saratoga Springs (DVC members) then joining all of you for good times. After the cruise we decided to take two extra days at Saratoga Springs and relax before jumping back into reality. Life just doesn't get any better than this... Any of you on the list DVC members? Just curious.

I'm soooo jealous! A night at the THV before sailing sounds like a great way to kick it off. Given the kids/DHs school schedule, I think we'll be leaving Friday evening for an 8-9 hour drive to the port. . . ugh! We're flying down to WDW for the marathon 1/6-1/10. Since DH and the kids are missing two school days for that and we've paid for those airline tix, we decided to try to do this Christmas trip without taking time off work or buying another set of airline tickets. I think I might have push a little harder for him to at least take that day off. Its the last day before Christmas break . . . I can't imagine he plans to actually teach them anything! And I know my kids won't be missing much. Thanks for prompting me to think more about it. It sure would be nice not to start off our trip tired!

Oh, and we're DVC members too . . . Boardwalk, since 2003.

 

[itutorfortravel]

I am happy to keep up with the roll call, no thx needed, but appreciated and very sweet!

Wow, I am also jealous of the extra days at WDW. It is nice to get close to the port in advance of the cruise. Leslie, we are heading down on Thursday night and letting DD miss that last day of school, and I believe our travel times are going to be the same or very close to it. Typically, class parties (at our school) are the Thursday before the holiday so she shouldn't even have to miss that unless they change something. Last time we cruised we left a couple days in advance and it was nice. I just like being able to get settled in for the night as early as possible so that we don't start the cruise tired. I know some people are high-energy and can take the pace, but my family (at least DD and me) need our sleep - LOL!

 

[Downrivermama]

Thank you for taking care of the lists. It really does help so much in the planning stages.
This is going to be great. October is a busy month for us personally so the time will fly by and then...we will be looking towards Thanksgiving. After that me and hubby in the treehouse villa the night before we sail at Saratoga Springs (DVC members) then joining all of you for good times. After the cruise we decided to take two extra days at Saratoga Springs and relax before jumping back into reality. Life just doesn't get any better than this... Any of you on the list DVC members? Just curious.

We are! But I've used all my points for this year. We are going to stay a couple of days after the cruise in Cocoa Beach. We are flying in on the 18th and stay at the MCO Hyatt. DD last day of school is the 18th so I will pick her up and head to the airport!

 

[bpescar]

It's nice to know some are members. It has been the best investment we have ever made next to the purchase of our house. Although hubby has to hold me back every time they have a deal because I think we need more points. I made a promise last time I purchased extra points I would not purchase any more. Financially with education the way it is we can no longer do so. The market is too scary. However so far so good. If anyone else on the lists wants to have the best vacations of their lives they should talk to one us members, right? We have been members since 2006. I have always been totally satsified with everything I have received. Disney always takes good care of their clients. I can not wait to meet you all. This trip is truly a trip of our lifetimes.

 

[Peaceableone]

What is everyone planning on doing with their kids? I have two boys, 13 and 11. My 13 year old was looking forward to the loft, but on Magic it starts age 14 (13 on the Wonder), so not as excited. Our last cruise the kids went to the Disney appropriate age groups (I dont remember what it was called). They were bored, found that typically some ONE would dominate an activity and there was never anything fun to do. What does anyone have in mind for their kids?

TIA--

 

[disneyday3]

What is everyone planning on doing with their kids? I have two boys, 13 and 11. My 13 year old was looking forward to the loft, but on Magic it starts age 14 (13 on the Wonder), so not as excited. Our last cruise the kids went to the Disney appropriate age groups (I dont remember what it was called). They were bored, found that typically some ONE would dominate an activity and there was never anything fun to do. What does anyone have in mind for their kids?

TIA--

I have the same dilemma. DD (11) is too old for the Lab now ( which she loved last year) She doesn't want to go to Ocean Quest since it is 'just boring computers and steering the boat thingy'
BTW we only had a quick 5 min look in OQ on the very first day, perhaps she would change her mind if they were doing some sort of activity

 

[3DAN]

Hellllooooooo out therrrrrrrrrrrrrrrreeeeeeeee,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
Anybody out therrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrreeeeeeeeeeeeeee?
Kimberly,,,,,,,,,,,, thanks for the info.
I'll let you know who is with us right here if that is okay. I am Bill,,,, the dad.
Angela,,,, my wife,,,, is "coasternut". Billy is 17, and also my son, Kristen ,13, my daughter. And Kathleen,, 17,,, is Billy's girlfriend. I will try to get them to post on the thread soon.... We are DVC and have been in it since 1994. That is back when the "Old Key West" was actually named "The Disney Vacation Club".... YEAH,, OH YEAH!!!!!! We actually got season passes to the parks each year until, I think, the year 2000. AND,,,,,, FREE!!!!!
I don't think we will be able to participate in the FE exchange. It will be difficult just preparing for the trip as it is. This is our ninth Disney cruise. We did the first Panama canal crossing with Captain Thord. (a mid ship cat 3). SOOOOOO,,, now it is down to cat 12's. TEEHEE.
What else???? We are going to fly down Friday the 18th and stay at the villas at the Wilderness in a two bedroom. Plan to take Kathleen to the Magic Kingdom. She has never been on a vacation other than , I think, Kings Island in Cincinnati and also with her family to South Florida to the beach at Christmas time. The plan is to show her the time of her life and enjoy watching the expression on her face as she sees things brand new. YOU guys know,,, Remember the first time you actually saw the ship??????!!!
Bill