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

[robynchic]

I won't be getting any rest until we get in the car to drive down tonight! IEP meetings are done, as are IEPs, I'm feeling much better, and all I need to do is pack the last minute stuff. I can't wait!

 

[bpescar]

We are leaving for the airport. See you all on ship!

 

[lovesDCL]

We made it in! At the Hyatt. We plan on exploring the area a bit while we pick up some last minute items. Travel safe everyone!

 

[stichlover87]

Leaving the house now for the hotel by the port. Safe travels and see you on the ship!

 

[itutorfortravel]

we're here! getting settled in for the night and anxiously anticipating tomorrow. i can't believe it's finally here!

Leslie, the surprise to the girls sounds awesome! I hope we get to see the video. we video taped our DD in march when she did a scavenger hunt to find out about our april cruise...it's priceless!

 

[lovesDCL]

Hi Kimberly. Happy to hear you made it there safely!

Why is tomorrow taking sooooo long to get here? Is it time yet? I'm ready to be on the MAGIC!

 

[momtomari]

Were here at our hotel near the airport. While I was at the airport in detroit I realized I forgot the fish extender and my sandals. Oh well. Not sure what were gonna do now.

 

[stichlover87]

Just got home...now to start unpacking Thanks for all the great FE gifts and I hope everyone had an amazing cruise! Happy New Year!

 

[Debs Hill]

We were supposed to be on this cruise but had to cancel for finanical reasons! Hope you all had a great time. How was the weather?
Debsx

 

[Pluto 2]

We were supposed to be on this cruise but had to cancel for finanical reasons! Hope you all had a great time. How was the weather?
Debsx

the weather wasnt too bad. we had great weather all the way until wednesday night when we left st thomas the ship was rocking and thursday the ship was rocking a little. we got to castaway cay late than they had trouble docking didnt get cleared to go to shore until about noon. we left castaway at 1730 instead on 1700. we seen the wonder in the morning and when we left castaway the magic and wonder did a sail by. it looked like they were pretty close i was eating in parrot cay at the time. many people wasnt able to enjoy the sail by it was at a bad time supper time and show time for both ships.

 

[disneyland255]

The cruise was awesome! So sorry you weren't able to make it.

The weather was a little on the warm side with about 50% humidity. One thing my wife and I noticed was that everything was a lot greener this time of the year (as opposed to our March 07 cruise). BEAUTIFUL!

The ship did a ton of rocking during the week. I never am effected buy it, but it almost did me in this time. The ship was very pretty all decked out in Christmas. Christmas music played everywhere. We made ginger bread houses and had tea with the Mad Hatter (VERY FUN).

The only disappointment we had was with the sihp itself. It looks worn down. Things were broken, paint chipping, rust showing, windows dirty, not the Disney shoe were used to. The ship was in better shape 2 years ago than now. My parents, who traveled with us and this was their 1st Disney cruise, were disappointed in the look of the ship.

On the upside, our 17 month old daughter went with us and the cast members were MORE than attentive to our little "princess." It was fantastic!

We also participated in the FE. THANK YOU! to all of you who shared this experience with us! WE LOVED IT! So much generosity and so much fun went into this. We can't wait to do it again! To those of you I met on the ship, I hope we can keep in touch!!! Please PM me if we met.

I'll try to post some pictures of our cruise up on here in a day or two (anyone have advice for posting multiple pictures?

 

[itutorfortravel]

Hi everyone!

We just got home yesterday and now the fun of unpacking and doing laundry begins...

We had a fabulous cruise! The only complaint I had was that once again there was so much I wanted to do and not enough time to do it.

I'm sorry I didn't get to meet all of you, but I enjoyed meeting those of you who I did meet on the first day on board...oh, and it was great timing that I got to meet you Francine as you were delivering FE gifts Leslie, Cynthia, and Shannon I loved running into you guys throughout the trip to say hello and catch up on how you were enjoying yourselves.

The FE gifts you guys gave out were phenomenal! You are one creative (and generous) group of people! Thanks for everything. Both my DD's, especially Morgan, were so excited to find things in our FE throughout the trip. When we were in the room, Morgan kept looking outside every 5 minutes to see if anyone had left something. We will definitely have to do the FE exchange again on our next cruise.

Did any of you rebook onboard? I rebooked my 2011 Dream cruise to be able to get the lower deposit, discount, and OBC. I also put out a dummy date so I'd have another week to move around if something good pops up. I'm thinking it will probably be 2011 before we sail again but you never know!

I hope you all have a good new year! If any of you would like to keep in touch, PM me your email address...I always love chatting about upcoming Disney trips with others who have the same passion!!!

Take care,
Kimberly

 

[shannonetherton]

You guys were awesome! I just finished going through all of our FE stuff and it was amazing!! peaceableone my ornament is hanging on my desk and it is going to stay there all year long!! I am already planning to make these for everyone next year for gifts!! You guys were great and I am so glad we joined this group! Everyone seemed to really click well and friendships were definintely made. I thought Emily was going to cry when she had to leave Paige and Grace Murphy! They are buds for life! (We are kind of fond of their parents too!) Kimberly I loved seeing Morgan's beautiful red head all over the ship! You guys all looked like you were having too much fun on the adult beach. I am also planning outfits that the chicken can wear on future trips!! That was the first time in six cruises I have stepped foot on that beach!!
I do have to agree about the ship. I noticed the same thing in May but it was worse this time. My husband and I both commented that the Wonder is in much better shape. I know a ship with ten years is going to show some wear but it was really pronounced this time. Mostly in upper deck areas. Oh well it did not matter I was still happy to be there!
We booked a dummy date on the Dream for 2011. I will probably flip it into something sooner. I have a feeling we won't be taking the Med sailing as airfare is just nuts! Oh well there will be others!! Keep in touch!
Shannon

 

[Peaceableone]

How said it is all over. OMGosh did I have a good time. We didnt plan any excursions, and I think that combined with our trip being seven days, was very relaxing. I didn't feel any pressure. I got to walk, swim, read, have time away from the kids (w/o worries) and time with the kids. I saw my kids acting older and more responsible (whew). Now, it is all over and I'm back to work... dreaming about the next trip.

Everyone.. thanks for all the FE gifts. We received SO MUCH STUFF! I loved the white board and found it so useful. The soaps were so pretty! I love the tea bags (ok, I need to buy those) and the shortbread. The candy was our airplane snacks. We had so much stuff.. we ended up sharing with our neighboring cabins (which we used to introduce them to the FE process..I think they''ll join for their next trip) and we shared with our table companions. We had so much stuff with our 'small' group..I can't imagine what it would be like if it was larger!

Thanks everyone!

 

[Peaceableone]

Hey, I was wondering.. well, we were..

At the end, we all give those cute envelopes to our servers, etc. I thought I heard something that Disney does not pay them, but that those little envelopes were they salary. Anyone know?

 

[owensjro]

Hey, I was wondering.. well, we were..

At the end, we all give those cute envelopes to our servers, etc. I thought I heard something that Disney does not pay them, but that those little envelopes were they salary. Anyone know?

The servers and stateroom hosts are tipped positions so while Disney does pay them a small amount (I have heard $50 per week but don't believe I have ever seen anyone be able to prove that) and they do get room/board, they mostly depend on tips.

As for ship condition, the only thing that bothered me was the stains on the carpet. I didn't really notice anything else that detracted from my experience.

I was actually pleased by the overall weather. We've done two January 7N easterns and this was by far the best temperatures and the least rocking we've had.

Thanks to all for the FE gifts. I'm not sure how we managed to miss the meet and greets. I'm sure we saw everyone around throughout the week and just didn't know it

Jim

 

[disneyland255]

Hey All!

Just wanted to throw an update out there...the misses and I are booking our Disney Dream 5 night cruise for June 7th of 2011. If any of you are doing the same let me know as I'd love to keep in touch and maybe be in a new thread for this cruise!

I'm so glad everyone had such a wonderful time on this cruise!! This was our first FE and we absolutely loved it!!! One of the best experiences was when I was talking with some friends we made in Lumieres about whether they were on disboards or not. I mentioned my screen name (disneyland255) and the lady at the table next to them (I think her sn is mermaid something) said "disney255??" I said "yeah?" She knew me from the boards. What a great meeting!

We loved coming to our rooms during the day to check out our FE. It was really special to those who thought of our daughter and got her bibs, onesies, little toys, etc. SHE LOVED THEM!!!! THANK YOU ALL!!!

 

[itutorfortravel]

"mermaid" is Cynthia...I saw her around the ship all week! She is so sweet

We booked the Dream for June 12th, 2011...I didn't think DD's school would be out in time to go any earlier, and when we got home the new school calendar was released, and I was right! The June 12th date is the earliest we could do the Dream in the summer, so I'm glad I booked it. It would still be fun to keep in touch though since we're only one cruise after you! Sorry I didn't get to meet you and your family this time around...

 

[disneyland255]

I'm sorry I didn't get to meet you and your family either. I thought there was a meet at the port, but I didn't see anyone that I recognized. Oh well, there's always another cruise!

Mermaid was definitely sweet! It was a thrill to just meet her. We also met another wonderful cople as we were putting gifts in their FE. They opened the door and we all stood there startled like deer in the headlights. It was too funny! Her husband made her shut the door till we were done, then we discussed pins on their FE.

Such a wonderful thing these FEs.

 

[itutorfortravel]

You are right, we did plan to meet at the port. Unfortunately I missed it. My SIL and I really wanted to try to get upgrades and so by the time we both got through normal check in and the process of upgrading, it was past 11 o'clock. My family was sitting near the ship's model and walking around it to see where our rooms would be, and I looked to see if I saw any groups congregating around the area, but it must have been too late. But like you said, there is always a chance on a future cruise.