12/6/07...Anyone with us?

[ibouncetoo]

Bob and DW! Yep, we have all levels of experience in this group!

Are you spending any time at WDW? A mess of us are, so you'll here lots of WDW talk on this thread also.



Yes, Peg, I was refering to those ancient creatures and also the long, skinny, but not slimy ones. Yes, the gators do get captured and removed, once they are big enough to notice! The snakes, well, they live there.

I suppose I shouldn't mention the snakes in the pool at Port Orleans French Quarter, eh?

 

[Hannosmom]

I suppose I shouldn't mention the snakes in the pool at Port Orleans French Quarter, eh?

 

[TiggersPal]

Hello all, first time Disney cruiser. I hope you can answer some of my questions over the next few weeks and months. It sounds like most of you have been Disney cruisers in the past.
My wife and I have two Disney cruises booked, the first is this December 6th. and the other is in Oct. of 2008 celebrating friends of ours 50th anniversary.
We have only cruised with NCL America in the past not the best, but I've heard a lot of great things about the service on Disney ships......can't wait till December to try them out.
Well, until next time
Bob

So glad you decided to post! You will love Disney - my first EVER cruise was last November on Disney (with my sis ibouncetoo) and I met this crazy bunch - and well I'm hooked! This is a re-union for us - so we plan on having a "wild and crazy" time. Ok, not really that wild and crazy - but we do love to laugh and joke around.

 

[TiggersPal]

Well DON'T FRET MY FRIENDS - SNAKES DO NOT BOTHER ME AT ALL!!!! I remove rattle snakes from the stables on a regular basis.
It's swimming with the gators that make me a little bit nervous!!!!

Ok, not "swimming" but IF I do fall out of the mouse boat... that would NOT be fun. Guess I'll be cruising at a much safer speed!

We will still have fun - Sarah don't you worry!

 

[alohabob]

Thanks ibouncetoo, Tiggerspal & Hannosmom for the welcome.
Yes we will be staying at PORS after the cruise for a four night stay.
My wife (Barb) and I are big Disney fans and try to visit the mouse at least once a year but have slipped over the last year shame on us. The last time for us was Oct. of 2005 for MNSSHP we just love to dress up for that.
We have visited the Land three times in the past two and a half years, I never thought I would ever make it out that way but we have fallen head over heels over the place that started it all.
Well enough of my yappin, thanks again for the welcome.....I'll be back later with some questions about the cruise.

Bob

 

[ibouncetoo]

Bob, being only a 5 1/2 hour drive from Disneyland and an Annual Passholder for a couple of years earlier this decade, I know what you mean about falling in love. Disneyland just feels like home....like Walt's place!



I wasn't able to make my dining reservations...the week of 12/3 wasn't 'loaded' in the system yet this morining, so even though the start of my trip (12/2) was in the 180 day window, I still need to call back tomorrow (knowing me...I'll check later today )

Anyone doing the Southwest Airline 'booking window' watch? Just found out they plan to open up through mid-Jan on or about 6/28 (Madam Leota predicts Tuesday 6/26). I'll be doing the daily check startiing the weekend before!

 

[TiggersPal]

Bob, being only a 5 1/2 hour drive from Disneyland and an Annual Passholder for a couple of years earlier this decade, I know what you mean about falling in love. Disneyland just feels like home....like Walt's place!



I wasn't able to make my dining reservations...the week of 12/3 wasn't 'loaded' in the system yet this morining, so even though the start of my trip (12/2) was in the 180 day window, I still need to call back tomorrow (knowing me...I'll check later today )

Anyone doing the Southwest Airline 'booking window' watch? Just found out they plan to open up through mid-Jan on or about 6/28 (Madam Leota predicts Tuesday 6/26). I'll be doing the daily check startiing the weekend before!

I just plugged 6/21 on my calendar - I doubt it will open much before then. But you never know, I may just POP on every now and then to check.

As I am in "getting ready for vacation mode". We switched our weeks in Santa Barbara too. I HIGHLY doubt my DH will want a road trip right AFTER his trip to Sweden - and since my boss will be out at the end of July - we are going then.

Now, what WILL I do while the cat is away 8/20-8/24???? hmmmm

My sister will be in Colorado - so whatever I do - I'll have to drive with the dogs...

OH - I forgot in my recent search for a Disney backpack which resulted in NO LUCK finding a good one with water holders, I went on EBAY! Guess what? Not only did I find a nice one, but it's a CALIFORNIA ADVENTURE one - which is even cooler, cuz a lot of people on the cruise and in WDW won't have one!

I was happy to pick it up fairly "cheap".

Anyone know anything about Hotel Mar Monte in Santa Barbara???

 

[ibouncetoo]

Now, what WILL I do while the cat is away 8/20-8/24???? hmmmm

My sister will be in Colorado - so whatever I do - I'll have to drive with the dogs...

Guess this means you won't be taking care of my eh? And who's going to take care of yours?

Can't wait to see the back-pack

....ok back to work for me!

 

[TiggersPal]

Guess this means you won't be taking care of my eh? And who's going to take care of yours?

Can't wait to see the back-pack

....ok back to work for me!

I'll take care of Acoma and Miracle, don't worry. I was just dreaming... frankly a chance to be in my OWN home alone...will be GREAT!

 

[alohabob]

OK here is my first question.
Have any of you used the Disney transportation from MCO to the pier?
How far is it to the pier, time wise how long will it take from MCO to pier?
We have or should I say we are planning on arriving before 11:00AM the day of embarkation.
When do they start letting you on the ship?
Is embarkation made easy? We have only traveled with NCL in the pass and it was very easy with them.
Do you need to wait until your room is ready before they will let you on board?

Wow slap me, that was way more than one question......sorry!!!
Well...... any help answering any or all of the above would be a great help.
Thanks in advance.
Bob

 

[ibouncetoo]

I've used DCL going BACK to the ship (always went to WDW first on Magical Express).

It's about a one hour drive to the pier...give or take.

Usually the ship starts boarding at noon...sometime slightly earlier.

When you arrive at the pier, you will go through security (just like the airport...place your carryon on the scanner). You then immediately go up escalators and are handed a numbered boarding card. There will be lines for check in and there are LOTS of counters open, so don't let the line scare you. There is actually a line for repeat cruisers (Castaway Club members) and it is often longer, and probably will be on this cruise due to so many repeat cruisers.

There is a teriffic ship model to look at and characters come out for photos and autographs while you are waiting. There is a seating area and TV's to keep the kids busy.

They start boarding with the Cat 1-3 folks and people needing assistance then call you up by boarding card number. We had #11 or 13 (?) last time and were still on the ship by 12:30....so don't let a high number scare you...you get on pretty darn quick.

After getting on the ship you will be directed to one of the dining establishments. Topsiders on deck 9 for cafeteria style dining and/or Parrot Cay for indoor buffet. Go to whichever one you want...regardless of where they direct you. If you have dining changes (you won't know your rotation and time till you check in), or need to book Palo, or get wine tasting 'tickets' etc, you can do that as soon as you board. You will be given a "Navigator" at check in that will tell you where to do this.

If the kids want to swim...pack or wear swimsuits under your clothes and hit the pools as soon as you board. The eateries around the pool are open also (Pluto''s Dog House, Pinocchio's Pizza, Goofy's whateveritis). And this is probably the most empty the pools will be!

You can get into your staterooms at 1:30PM. There will probably be a DIS meet with all of us at 3PM (location to be determined) and you have to be in your room at 4PM with lifejackets on for the muster drill. After that is the sail away party and we're on our way!



Most folks who have cruised other lines say Disney is the best for embarkation and debarkation. Well, after all, Disney knows how to handle crowds!

If you haven't done so yet, I recommending reading some of the cruise trip reports. You get a good idea of how things go and will also hear some of the "I didn't know you could do that" stuff!

 

[dizney-cruiser]

we did take the bus right from the airport to the ship back in 2004 - so - i dont really remember the times - just that all went smoothly - there is a line inside the airport for the bus - a bus pulls up and they load it up - they play a pre-cruise info tape and then cartoons to keep you entertained - so the time flew by! you will get the forms in the mail a few weeks before we sail - you can fill all out there - or you can now do that online - but you want it done so you can enjoy the videos on the bus!

 

[alohabob]

Thanks for all the info, theres nothing like having a little good reading while drinking your coffee thanks again. If you all have a get together on board please let me know, I would like to meet up with you folks to at least say hello.

One more question while I'm thinking of it; I've heard it may be better to have the first seating for dinner so you can see the shows after dinner at a reasonable time......what are your thoughts and what seating do you usually take and why.
Again thanks for the info ahead of time.
Bob

 

[ibouncetoo]

Well, I prefer late seating, especially on cruises where you may be doing excursions...you don't have to race back to the ship to get cleaned up for dinner. Although the first performance of the shows is about 6:15, early seating can be as early as 5:30...that 45 minutes can make a difference to me.

The 'ideal' to me is the 8PM seating (on this cruise it would be the TAP--Tritons, Animator's Palate, Parat Cay--rotation). That way you are done in time for the nighttime deck parties and adult shows. You can have a request for this rotation noted on your reservation.

Most folks with little children prefer the earlier seating.

 

[Tikihula]

Hi! Thought I'd better check in with the rest of you. DH and I will be joining this cruise in December. Already booked a Secret Porthole Room through Small World Travel.
This is our second cruise, our first was the 4-day in Jan 07. We've got Florida Resident Season Passes to use up by January and this seemed like the perfect time to go cruisin'. We're going to the parks after the cruise, and will be at Pop Century the nights of Dec 9-12th. We hope to make the last two days of MouseFest this year, but we'll miss the MegaMouseMeet on the 8th. Oh well, they'll survive without us.
We are very excited to be Castaway Cay Club members and are looking forward to trying out some new adventures this trip. Last time we went parasailing and snorkeling with the stingrays, all on CC. I'll have to dig out my PassPorter and see what other exciting things there are to do.
Does anyone know if they have resumed parasailing on CC? I haven't kept up on the boards lately and last I heard, they hadn't gotten a new vendor yet. That was about the most fun I've ever had, so definitely want to do that again.
We are mature adults, but have reserved early dining as I hate to go to bed wallowing around on a full stomach! Hopefully we'll get the last seating of our early dining rotation (6:15 or 6:30?).
Looking forward to seeing everyone on board ship.

 

[ibouncetoo]

Welcome, Bev.

Yes, they have resumed parasailing on CC (I think it's the same vendor...just got new motors for the boats...not 100% sure on that though).

I have a very good friend who will be at Mousefest and we are very sad that our cruise/park dates don't overlap...especially as she is renting DVC points to us for our land portion of the trip!

I'm part of a group that is cruising together because we miss each other so much from our November Magic Double Dip last year. So you will see some chatting on this thread about our land portion of this trip too. Looks like a lot of folks here will be doing WDW before or after, so perhaps we can share some good info.

Are you planning on doing MVMCP (Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party) while at WDW? I'm so excited about that. I've done the Halloween party before and it was great fun.

You should also be able to do you dining reservations in a couple of more days (I think today is the 180 mark for 12/8).


Well, I'm off to check the movie times....it's going to be 104 here today...need an airconditioned theater!

 

[TiggersPal]

Hey there fellow cruiser! Glad you could join the thread. I'm looking WAY forward to this trip - and even though I don't want to wish away time, and really really ready.

I LOVED the Eco Tour on CC - it was a blast - so you might want to look into that. I love the jet ski's and really enjoyed learning about the area and how everything keeps in balance. Not to mention driving around like a mad woman over the waves out side of the "Cove".

I also really like the snorkeling and plan on doing that. My sis (ibouncetoo) has done the feeding the Ray's thingy - but since I was blessed to swim with the dolphins in Cozumel 11/06 I'll skip the Ray experience. I've also done the Parasailing - just not on CC.

Ok, that's my 2 cents. We are still waiting to find out where we are staying prior to the cruise - but are looking forward to seeing our Maties again!

RIGHT MATIES???

 

[TiggersPal]

Ok, WHERE is everyone?

Also - WHERE IS MY DH's PASSPORT?????

 

[Tikihula]

Hi Peggy Jo and Jackie and AlohaBob and the rest of you folks! Thanks for the greetings.

I just got off the phone to reserve a room at the Radisson Resort at the Port in Cocoa Beach for the night of Dec 5th before our cruise. We were looking for a less expensive place, but then I read somewhere on this thread that there is a shuttle launch scheduled for 4:30pm on Dec 6th, our sailing date!! Sooo, I wanted to be as close as possible to the terminal because I know traffic will be wall-to-wall on launch day, and probably for the day or two preceding it.
Got a government rate at the Radisson and I've read it's a really nice place, so I'm a happy camper.
I don't think we're going to MMVCP this year. We did go a couple years ago and had a great time, even though it POURED that night. We were drenched and freezing but still had our free picture taken (oh yes, we looked quite bedraggled). This October 21st a friend and I will be at MNSSHP and we're really looking forward to it. We are dressing in our Safari Mickey outfits. Found a safari vest on E-bay and bought a safari style backpack at Animal Kingdom Lodge last January. Got a khaki shirt with Mickey icons on it and will hang a small pair of binoculars and a compass around my neck. All I need is an Aussie-style safari hat, and I'll be set.

I've made all these plans and reservations, and all I can do is hope and pray we don't have as busy a hurricane season as they are predicting.

 

[Tikihula]

Say, Jackie,
Your friend doesn't happen to have about 32 points she could rent us for a studio at OKW, does she? We're trying to get in the nights of 9 through 12 December. We rented from a DVC member last January and fell in love with OKW. Early December is a popular time so I don't know if a studio would be available, but thought I'd try. I've posted on the DVC rental forum, too.
I hope it's okay if I ask that question in this thread.