12/24/08 Christmas Cruise on the Wonder

[TXdeVille]

Excuse me as I vent to my Cruise friends. The DVC discussion board has me a bit frustrated and bent out of shape at the moment....

Annette, I think I need that chai and a nice relaxing time.

 

[drag n' fly]

Excuse me as I vent to my Cruise friends. The DVC discussion board has me a bit frustrated and bent out of shape at the moment....

Annette, I think I need that chai and a nice relaxing time.

Ya they have a habit of doing that. They take stuff far too seriously in that forum.

 

[scuba.mom]

Well, better late than never. We will be crusing with you over Christmas. My son is in the Air Force and just found out that he will have some time off at Christmas and what he wanted to do was go on a Disney Cruise since is over 18 now and can finally enjoy Palo, Spa / Workout area, etc.

Our introduction, it will be me (Sharon), DH (Jim), DS-18 (Matt) and DD-14 (Lisa). We have cruised many times before and in fact I just got off the Eastbound Panama Canal Cruise on Labor Day. That trip was so much fun. My husband was kind enough to allow me to travel with a group of other mom's (we were known as the "Escaping Moms") for that trip. He took responsibility for getting my daughter to High School and to the gym each night.

We have late dining. We are looking forward to getting to know each of you before we sail in December. It should be fun.

 

[adrianna_sarah]

I have been dropping by periodically to peep. Just busy unpacking the house... still! We finally gave up and put a bunch of stuff in storage. We figured that if we haven't unpacked it by now, we must ot need it and we're out of space anyway.

Now that Scott is back from Iraq, I have less internet time. We are trying to figure out where we want to be stationed next. This is one of those rare career points where the Army gives us some say in where we are going next. Part of me wants to do something fun and overseas like Hawaii, Alaska or Germany, the other part of me is thinking Fort Hood, TX so we can buy a house and I can go to Grad School. I am so tired of living in Army housing and rentals with their leaky pipes and tightwad landlords. (As I type, there is FINALLY a contractor here replacing my entire bathtub/shower and wall plumbing-it only took our landlady 6 weeks to get someone on the job! It has rained in our basement every time we take a shower for the last 6 weeks!)

Anyway, we have to give the Army a wish list in November. In the weeks between then and now, representatives come here to Leavenworth to interview potential picks. The different Army posts make their wish lists as well and someone in the DC area tries to match wants with needs. So... we are diligently looking at home buying costs, grad schools, cost of living and recreation at all of the available duty stations. It has been quite the PT job.

Welcome to all the newbies, especially the Marine. Hubby had a jab back at you, but I forgot what it was... probably about rolled sleeves or Bulldogs or something.

I am 21 days away from being able to book, so that means some of you are like 6!! Yay!! Don't take all the good stuff. I have a feeling there will be a higher than average number of CC members on this cruise, so the Palo etc. will go fast.

Cheers, Adrianna

 

[AndymanGA]

Welcome to all the new folks. Scubamom do you wanna host all of us for a couple of days before or after the cruise since you are close by?

 

[scuba.mom]

Told DH about the parasailing and couple's exotic rasul... can we book these at our 75-day mark, or do you have to do that on the ship?


Happy Tuesday!
Shari

Both the spa appointments and the excursions will be available to book on line at the 75-day mark. You can also book them on the ship at the spa or the excursion desk, but sometimes the times / availability can be limited since others will have already booked slots on-line.

 

[scuba.mom]

Any one else seen the Banana Boat Rides at CC disappear off the Excursions list? I checked yesterday and it is gone!! Wanted to hum the JAWS theme while riding it with the kids.

The Banana Boats were not at CC last week. We had them booked in the spring, but then DCL called and said they had been discontinued. I was sorry to hear that since the Banana Boat Ride was not longer available since we have always enjoyed it.

 

[scuba.mom]

Welcome to all the new folks. Scubamom do you wanna host all of us for a couple of days before or after the cruise since you are close by?

I don't think you would all fit.

The downside of living close by, while all of you are enjoying Pre and Post Cruise time at the resorts, I will be working the day before the cruise and the day after the cruise.

 

[DisneyMama27]

Excuse me as I vent to my Cruise friends. The DVC discussion board has me a bit frustrated and bent out of shape at the moment....

oh my! what were you discussing, Courtney?
It does get a little opinionated over there. I haven't lurked in a while...spending my time on the cruise boards!

Annette...how was the first day on the new job?

Adrianna, good to hear from you again - wow, sounds like you are busy! Good luck with your research!

So many other things I should be doing right now...guess I'd better get to it!

 

[DisneyMama27]

OK, Courtney...nevermind. Found your DVC thread... I appreciated your comments. I don't think it's nice to scare people away from DVC, but then I guess I'm more of a "rainbows and butterflies" kind of person!
I understand your frustration. And was the A&M comment really necessary?

So now I really am going to get something done! I was just too nosy to let it go! It's nice to visit a thread that is so friendly and positive!

 

[JoDale]

Slowly catching up. In fact with the Hurricane brewing off shore as long as I don't lose power I will probably finish the 70+ pages this weekend. A lot of good advise from you guys so I'm not rushing myself and I've been making notes. It is also nice to realize there are a lot of friendly people on this board. Looking forward to meeting you in person.

Where I live we are under a Tropical Storm Warning and a Hurricane Watch. Looks like impact will be just south of me which means I'm living in the dreaded upper right quadrant above the storm center and which is the part which gets the most wind and rain. So far it is looking like we are going to only get a Tropical Storm but with winds in the mid 60's there's not much difference between that and a Cat 1 Hurricane. Plus there is some discussion of last minute strengthening before final landfall tonight.

I say final landfall because the outerbands are already impacting us. A curfew has been called for my town this evening and the local military base has closed for non-essential personnel.

Even at only Tropical Storm strength, I think our local Emergency Management Director described it best, "We are looking at a 19-hour wind event and four to five inches of rain." Hurricane or not, that is not a good thing.

 

[drag n' fly]

oh my! what were you discussing, Courtney?
It does get a little opinionated over there. I haven't lurked in a while...spending my time on the cruise boards!

Annette...how was the first day on the new job?

Adrianna, good to hear from you again - wow, sounds like you are busy! Good luck with your research!

So many other things I should be doing right now...guess I'd better get to it!

Job is going great! Had a nutjob pull rank but I fixed her wagon!

 

[drag n' fly]

Glad to hear everyone is safe. Welcome scuba.mom!

 

[drag n' fly]

I don't think you would all fit.

The downside of living close by, while all of you are enjoying Pre and Post Cruise time at the resorts, I will be working the day before the cruise and the day after the cruise.

Scuba.mom


I am making up a spreadsheet (for everyone). Please let me know:

Your cabin number ( if you know it):

Your kids m/f and what ages:

Dinner Seating first/second? :

Are you doing the Fish Extender? ( if you don't know what a FE is just ask):

Are you doing a pre/post WDW stay and where:

 

[TXdeVille]

OK, Courtney...nevermind. Found your DVC thread... I appreciated your comments. I don't think it's nice to scare people away from DVC, but then I guess I'm more of a "rainbows and butterflies" kind of person!
I understand your frustration. And was the A&M comment really necessary?

So now I really am going to get something done! I was just too nosy to let it go! It's nice to visit a thread that is so friendly and positive!

Like I said on the thread, I am all for educating but sometimes it seems all that guy does is bash. If someone wants to do it, give them the facts (or in his case...opinion) and let them know how it can be done. I'm with you.....

Right?!? The A&M comment???? Like every Texan....or stupid opinionated Texan is an Aggie? I'm surprised he didn't mention Longhorn since they were the National Champs recently. I should go back and mention something about that. Maybe I should tell him my husband was a sniper

 

[TXdeVille]

The Banana Boats were not at CC last week. We had them booked in the spring, but then DCL called and said they had been discontinued. I was sorry to hear that since the Banana Boat Ride was not longer available since we have always enjoyed it.

Yeah, someone said something about that. BUT I did find a place, if I remember correctly, in Nassau that has Banana Boat rentals. Now where did I put that....

BTW,

Scuba huh.....Guess I have an idea what you like to do. Planning on learning myself with the rest of the fam. Just have to get a doctor to clear me. Always been a dream. We do plan on snorkeling though.

Welcome to all the newbies, especially the Marine. Hubby had a jab back at you, but I forgot what it was... probably about rolled sleeves or Bulldogs or something.

Yeah, mine too. JoDale, I don't know if you read it or not yet but DH was Army. I think his comment was something along the lines of "They were always good escorts...along with the Navy. Took me everywhere I needed to go to get the job done." Something like that. His BF (that's best friend not boyfriend ) is ex-Marine. He's an equal opportunity military guy but he will still joke. Sounds like all those boys will get along just fine.

Gustav brought us ragweed and some cool weather. Bout it. He can have the ragweed back. Otherwise its been fine here.

Stay safe on the East Coast!!!

Annette....I love you. You are my kind of girl. Put those people in their place! I've had someone do that here too. Keep it up.

Ressies....I hope they keep some Palo open for us non CC members

 

[adrianna_sarah]

Midwest dropped our flight. Apparently there are so few folks needing to fly directly from KC to MCO, that they dropped it. We are now departing at 5:45, flying to Milwaukee to change planes, finally arriving at MCO around noon. And that's our only option. That's some hard travling with a baby and a six year old. Pretty much guarantees us temper tantrums! Agh!

Trying to keep a positive outlook.

 

[adrianna_sarah]

Stay safe, JoDale!

 

[DisneyMama27]

Right?!? The A&M comment???? Like every Texan....or stupid opinionated Texan is an Aggie? I'm surprised he didn't mention Longhorn since they were the National Champs recently. I should go back and mention something about that. Maybe I should tell him my husband was a sniper

Way to go, Annette!

Sorry about your flight, Adrianna...I know how hard it can be to fly with a tired baby. My doc said double-dose of benadryl for airplane flights...knocks them out safely!

JoDale, stay safe and I hope your internet stays on!

Brenda - PM me your address and I'll send you a planner!

Have a great evening, y'all!

 

[JoDale]

Looks like my town was mostly spared. I'd forgotten how loud a Tropical Storm could be. Even with everything all buttoned up the roar of wind this morning woke me up. I'm surprised my two Towheads didn't climb into bed with me. There are scattered reports of flooding and the local news is reporting some 2700 homes without power in my county alone. So far at least, I'm not one of them.

It looks like Ike is going to miss Florida except for the Keys but now the Gulf has to worry again.

By way of correction, there are no "ex-Marines". Once a Marine always a Marine...just some of us can no longer fit into our uniforms