2/11/13 Wonder Sweetheart Cruise

[emtmom0104]

Help me convince my wife that FE will be fun and not an extra burden on the cruise.

Hmmmm... Ok how to put this into words. I was overwhelmed at first on our last cruise when we had about 20 cabins with a minimum of 3 people. We did a b2b then as well. Total between both cruises I had almost 50 cabins and had made serious goody bags to all of the kids for every night. 2 large duffel bags later, just for FE stuff, I was thinking what am I doing??? Ill tell you what, I ended up with some of the most amazing and thoughtful gifts. I actually just hung up one of my gifts, a Mickey Mouse shaped Christmas ornament! We had a disabled woman make us all a large bag, knitted by her, since she couldn't get to the store without help. We even had simple things like a can of old bay seasoning from a family is a from Maryland, candy from the UK, small glass jars to put shells/sand in from our vacation spots, music CDs with music tailored to our trip. We had someone give out the small bar bottles of alcohol for the adults. You name it, you got it! Including baby powder (sprinkle it on your feet that have sand on them and it dries out the sand so it falls off easily). I LOVE my handmade key fob with the Mickey heads. There is no limit to these gifts/ideas. I came home with as much stuff as we took! I think dh and I were more excited than the kids to go back to the room to see what we got! Haha. My daughters fav gift was a simple dollar store eye mask with a Mickey button sewn on the top. My boys loved the homemade dry erase boards and glow sticks. The more people the more exciting I think..never know what your gonna find when you get back to your room. I don't think we got anything that wasn't useful in some way. I was so glad that we did it...hoping more people join our group, makes it more fun. I will have to look to see what pics I have from the last cruise, I'm sure I have pics of the awesome gifts we received! Doesn't have to be expensive unless you want it to be. I'm happy with a dollar store item with some personal touches. Hope this helps!

 

[emtmom0104]

And you have the choice to deliver every day or just once on your cruise. I did every day with a little something extra on pirate night for the kids. Eveything is left completely up to you! There is no set time or amount

 

[ddavis860]

Doing the FE was fun. We went around on the morning of a day at sea, and dropped our gifties. I made extras, and Ed was giving them to cast members who made our day extra special too. It was kinda fun to see them react to us giving back to them.

We also decorate our door. You can't use tape, but the doors are metal, and magnetic tape works, or magnetic business cards. I laminate different signs for our stay, put the magnetic tape on the back, and stick them to the door. They are easy to pack flat. When the kids came with us, it was easy for them to pick out our door.

 

[gopherlawyer]

DisName: Gopherlawyer
Cabin: 8510
Participating in FE: YES

 

[emtmom0104]

DisName: Gopherlawyer
Cabin: 8510
Participating in FE: YES

Can we have the Names and ages of everyone coming?

 

[ddavis860]

59 days!!!!

 

[ddavis860]

What does everyone have planned for excursions?

We are doing Seven Mile Beach on Grand Cayman, prob start at Tiki Beach, then do some town shopping. We leave at 330, so private excursions are too close for my comfort. I don't want to be one of those youtube people running and missing the boat... know what I mean?

And Mr Sancho's all inclusive on Cozumel, eating and relaxing...

 

[gopherlawyer]

What does everyone have planned for excursions?

We are doing Seven Mile Beach on Grand Cayman, prob start at Tiki Beach, then do some town shopping. We leave at 330, so private excursions are too close for my comfort. I don't want to be one of those youtube people running and missing the boat... know what I mean?

And Mr Sancho's all inclusive on Cozumel, eating and relaxing...

Dolphin swim in Cozumel. Off on on own excursion on Grand Cayman. Hope we don't miss the boat.

 

[ddavis860]

Dolphin swim in Cozumel. Off on on own excursion on Grand Cayman. Hope we don't miss the boat.

I was looking into a snorkle catamaran for Grand Cayman, and I just couldn't get the times we needed.

 

[emtmom0104]

No excursions planned as of yet...maybe over Christmas break we can finally sit down long enough to look. I think this is the first time I have stopped since Thursday. In exhausted and its only Monday!

 

[Camilo]

Hi folks,

We will be joining you on the Wonder on Feb 11th, next year....

We are 3 families from Canada. For the other 2 families, it will be their first cruise.

For us, we sailed with Carnival last year on the Dream but it will be our first cruise with Disney.

When we went with Carnival, the shipped stopped at Cozumel and we spent the day at Paradise Beach. It turned out to be a great beach day and pretty reasonable for our family, including lunch and drinks (non alcoholics).

As for Grand Cayman, we haven't decided what to do there. I still need to do some research on the options. Looking forward for suggestions...

Oh, and I forgot to introduce the the cast...

Myself, DW (Elane), Gabriel (7) and David (4).

The other 2 families with us are husband and wife, one with an 8 year old daughter and the other with a 5 year old son.
Camilo

 

[emtmom0104]

Hi folks,

We will be joining you on the Wonder on Feb 11th, next year....

We are 3 families from Canada. For the other 2 families, it will be their first cruise.

For us, we sailed with Carnival last year on the Dream but it will be our first cruise with Disney.

When we went with Carnival, the shipped stopped at Cozumel and we spent the day at Paradise Beach. It turned out to be a great beach day and pretty reasonable for our family, including lunch and drinks (non alcoholics).

As for Grand Cayman, we haven't decided what to do there. I still need to do some research on the options. Looking forward for suggestions...

Oh, and I forgot to introduce the the cast...

Myself, DW (Elane), Gabriel (7) and David (4).

The other 2 families with us are husband and wife, one with an 8 year old daughter and the other with a 5 year old son.
Camilo

Welcome!

We are just starting to look into excursions. We have been to key west, Nassau and castaway but have never done grand cayman or Cozumel. Anyone have any suggestions that won't break my bank with a family of 5?

Disney is an incredible experience. I can't wait for our next trip...my kids are driving me insane counting down the days...several times a day! Happy to see that people are finally joining our cruise! I need to get on my FE gifts..maybe over Christmas break!

 

[Camilo]

Folks,
Do you know how many dress-up nights we will have?
On the Disney website, it only has information for 3 night cruise and 4 night cruise, nothing on 5.
http://disneycruise.disney.go.com/faqs/onboard-dining/dining-attire/

The wife is trying to plan what to pack.

Thanks..

 

[emtmom0104]

Folks,
Do you know how many dress-up nights we will have?
On the Disney website, it only has information for 3 night cruise and 4 night cruise, nothing on 5.
http://disneycruise.disney.go.com/faqs/onboard-dining/dining-attire/

The wife is trying to plan what to pack.

Thanks..

I am not 100 percent positive but I think I remember 2. They are semi formal...honestly I don't think I have seen anyone do more than maybe a nice shirt and pair of pants. They just ask no bathing suits or tank tops. They keep the doing rooms pretty cool. One night is a pirate night but you don't have to dress up.

 

[ddavis860]

Just got off the phone with DCL. Semi-formal is on Tuesday, every other night is cruise causal. Supposed to be no shorts in the dining rooms. Palo requires a jacket for men and dressy for women for dinner.

 

[emtmom0104]

Thanks for checking Debbie!

 

[Camilo]

Hi smithgirls! Glad you are joining us!

We are getting excited too at my house! Who is traveling with you? It's just DH and me this time. We love the cruises, even without kids!

The fish extender is done by us on this DIS thread. If there is enough interest, someone on our cruise volunteers, and keeps the list updated. So far, we are a small group. Hopefully people will be finding us soon, and we can start a FE exchange.

Hi Debbie,
how many cabins are currently participating in the fish externder thing?
Is there an FAQ somewhere here on how to do it and ideas?

My wife and I are thinking about doing it....

Thanks, Camilo

 

[emtmom0104]

Hi Debbie,
how many cabins are currently participating in the fish externder thing?
Is there an FAQ somewhere here on how to do it and ideas?

My wife and I are thinking about doing it....

Thanks, Camilo

I am setting up the FE. Right now it is 3 families. I am putting it together on a spreadsheet. I need your dis name, real names of all participating, ages, gender, and cabin number. Also, if anyone has food allergies.

On the main forum there is a homemade fish extender thread...several of them with lots of ideas and pictures. Hope this helps!

 

[emtmom0104]

Hmmmm... Ok how to put this into words. I was overwhelmed at first on our last cruise when we had about 20 cabins with a minimum of 3 people. We did a b2b then as well. Total between both cruises I had almost 50 cabins and had made serious goody bags to all of the kids for every night. 2 large duffel bags later, just for FE stuff, I was thinking what am I doing??? Ill tell you what, I ended up with some of the most amazing and thoughtful gifts. I actually just hung up one of my gifts, a Mickey Mouse shaped Christmas ornament! We had a disabled woman make us all a large bag, knitted by her, since she couldn't get to the store without help. We even had simple things like a can of old bay seasoning from a family is a from Maryland, candy from the UK, small glass jars to put shells/sand in from our vacation spots, music CDs with music tailored to our trip. We had someone give out the small bar bottles of alcohol for the adults. You name it, you got it! Including baby powder (sprinkle it on your feet that have sand on them and it dries out the sand so it falls off easily). I LOVE my handmade key fob with the Mickey heads. There is no limit to these gifts/ideas. I came home with as much stuff as we took! I think dh and I were more excited than the kids to go back to the room to see what we got! Haha. My daughters fav gift was a simple dollar store eye mask with a Mickey button sewn on the top. My boys loved the homemade dry erase boards and glow sticks. The more people the more exciting I think..never know what your gonna find when you get back to your room. I don't think we got anything that wasn't useful in some way. I was so glad that we did it...hoping more people join our group, makes it more fun. I will have to look to see what pics I have from the last cruise, I'm sure I have pics of the awesome gifts we received! Doesn't have to be expensive unless you want it to be. I'm happy with a dollar store item with some personal touches. Hope this helps!

This is what I posted before about the FE. You can deliver every day or just once on the trip...whatever works for you. I have only done this one other time but its simple! You can make the FE out of anything. I have seen shoe organizers, homemade ones, some people buy them from places like etsy and I have seen ones made out of duct tape and some of zipper pencil pouches. There's no limit to creativity. Any questions....feel free to ask

 

[su_A_ve]

One more DISer in this cruise! - We just booked this past weekend. This is our second DCL (first one was a 5night DD on the Dream this past August) but first on the Wonder. As with the last one, it was last minute planning, and jumped on it as kids would only miss 3 days of school, we can drive slowly down from NJ and kids sail free!

So me, DW, DS15 and DS12. Not sure about FEs at this point - although with a cutoff of 1/11, we might be able to do jump on it. In any case, I would love to stop by and meet the fellow DISers in the cruise meet if ok.

We plan on staying the night before near the port - anyone with a recommendation between the Hampton Inn by the airport (blue lagoon) or the Downtown one (closer to the port)? Staying with points, so its the same, except parking fee on Downtown.

Counting down - so far it looks like a small crowd - even after a week of KSF there's plenty of availability. The fact there's no CC, maybe why nobody is going?