2/15/2013 - 8 Night Western Cruise, Galveston, TX

[graysonsmom]

Hi everyone! Thanks to those who asked about my ankle. It's still sore but I can limp along. It's much better than yesterday so I'm thinking that it should just keep getting better. I'm going to keep it wrapped and stay off it the best I can. I'm hoping I'll be uch better by the time we sail.

Beth - No I won't be doing any driving. We're taking my parents van and my mom loves to drive so I'm guessing she will do the majority with my dad driving when she wants a break. I don't care to drive and they know that, though I would if it were necessary.

I can't believe that we only have 2.5 days until we start driving. I have so much to do tomorrow.

Stephanne

Hey Stephanie,
As a person that has torn half the ligaments in my ankle... From severe sprains... I know how you feel sprained my ankle 2 weeks before my last cruise... One suggestion I have is go to a sports store in the baseball section typically they have ankle braces that tie and Velcro to secure it into a stable position... And helps with the pain... Also prevents additional injury since it takes about 6-8 weeks to stabilize an ankle after a sprain... I will be sporting ankle braces on the Disney day and any day with lots of walking just because my ankles still roll out... Hope y'all have a GREAT drive and be safe!

And Gina I was watching that on the news SO scary about the fire then them just at drift! I agree I actually paid out the wazoo last feb for my passport cause I waited till the week before my cruise... You can make an appointment at your passport office and pick up your passport next day for additional fees... This time once we planned this cruise I got my sons passport ordered... Luckily it came faster than they stated! It said 4-6 weeks processing time and we were 6 weeks out... But it came in about 3! Yay!


Also, I don't know if anyone will know the answer to this question BUT... I'm a single parent with full custody... I have passport do i need anything from my sons dad stating I can take him out of the country... I don't want any surprises at port and it may be hard to get a letter...thanks in advance!

 

[SnipsNSnails]

I have an ankle brace but it never even occurred to me to take it with me to winter camp! I will take it with us on the trip though.

My husband can't come on the trip with us since he started a new job in July. We got a notarized documented that he signed stating that they can travel out of the country. This is the one we used: http://cruisediva.com/permission_ltr.htm I've heard that I probably won't need it because they are travelling with one parent, but I'd rather just have it and have no problems. It was super easy, Andrew just ran into our bank branch and had it notarized, it just took a minute and didn't cost anything. We have passport cards for travel to Canada being in a border state.

Holy cow about the Triumph! We got engaged on the Triumph!

Stephanne

 

[FloridaFun]

We cruised on the Triumph just last March! That is just shocking.

On that cruise, I also sailed with my kids and not my DH. I also had to bring a letter notorized and signed by my DH stating that I could take the kids out of the country without him. Best to have one so that it is not a problem.

Beth

 

[I❤MICKEY]

Ok. As of now I have two hard sided suitcases and two rolling duffles. Will our suitcases fit under the bed? We are category 9C deluxe ocean view. Will we have a dresser in the room? Anyone know how big? What about the closet. I'm starting to stress about not having enough space in the room for all this stuff we have to bring.

Plus, now I'm getting nervous that the kids don't have passports. I figured it was an expense we didn't need.

I'm actually breaking out in hives. I don't know why I let myself get so stressed.

 

[moniman01]

Yikes! I would've been ok with the forced extra days to avoid a hurricane because everything was still working but that sounds miserable! No power? Where are they sleeping? Not going to think about possibilities like this! If you ignore it, it will go away. hehehe

yikes! so glad we all have passports...

 

[moniman01]

Ok. As of now I have two hard sided suitcases and two rolling duffles. Will our suitcases fit under the bed? We are category 9C deluxe ocean view. Will we have a dresser in the room? Anyone know how big? What about the closet. I'm starting to stress about not having enough space in the room for all this stuff we have to bring.

Plus, now I'm getting nervous that the kids don't have passports. I figured it was an expense we didn't need.

I'm actually breaking out in hives. I don't know why I let myself get so stressed.

hey there,
don't overpack!! one of my coworkers who has gone on several disney cruises told me to not overpack and you will find you dont need half the stuff you think. plus the thought of where to put stuff you buy and how to pack that on your way back. don't stress, I plan on packing on wed/thurs night but I already started putting everything in one spot to not forget anything. It will be ok - can't wait!!

 

[Wshop]

Ok. As of now I have two hard sided suitcases and two rolling duffles. Will our suitcases fit under the bed? We are category 9C deluxe ocean view. Will we have a dresser in the room? Anyone know how big? What about the closet. I'm starting to stress about not having enough space in the room for all this stuff we have to bring.

Plus, now I'm getting nervous that the kids don't have passports. I figured it was an expense we didn't need.

I'm actually breaking out in hives. I don't know why I let myself get so stressed.

I never tried putting anything under the bed but put our rolling cases on the closet floor. There were drawers for the clothes (sort of built in to the closet feature) also there was a trunk. Honestly, we had more than enough room for our stuff on the last cruise. I also would not worry about the passports. Relax and have fun.

 

[Gina]

Also, I don't know if anyone will know the answer to this question BUT... I'm a single parent with full custody... I have passport do i need anything from my sons dad stating I can take him out of the country... I don't want any surprises at port and it may be hard to get a letter...thanks in advance!

Tyler Dean and I have been cruising and traveling since he was 4, and I have never needed anything other than our passports. No one at any port or airport or any customs checkpoint has ever asked for any other documentation, or even looked at me sideways.

Hope this helps!


-gina-

 

[FloridaFun]

I was thinking about the Carnival Triumph's next two cruises being cancelled and wondering if any people that were book on them will try and get onto our cruise. I would be so disapointed to have my cruise cancelled last minute like that and would immediatly be looking for who else is going out around the same time.

Beth

 

[nzkiwi]

Buckton Family - I just noticed on the FE list that some of you have gluten issues. Me too! I am highly allergic to all gluten including all corn and things made from corn. Last time we cruised I did not have the corn allergy so it will be interesting to see how this time goes. In 2009 I ate wonderfully on Wonder.

Hi, glad to see we won't be the only gluten free folks on the ship. Corn is difficult to avoid in processed foods so you must eat a lot of whole foods? My son was diagnosed 6 months ago and sometimes has a hard time with not being able to eat things so I hope they take really good care of him on the ship. I am a little nervous about being stuck on a ship and trusting them to feed us safely, but I keep telling myself "Disney is great with allergies, Disney is great with allergies..." Unfortunately they did gluten me when we went to Disney World in 2008 so I have that in the back of my head too. I am hoping to come off the cruise with a new appreciation for the chefs onboard! Can't wait to meet you!

 

[Gina]

I was thinking about the Carnival Triumph's next two cruises being cancelled and wondering if any people that were book on them will try and get onto our cruise. I would be so disapointed to have my cruise cancelled last minute like that and would immediatly be looking for who else is going out around the same time.

Beth

You might be right... But, the Triumph cruises are 4 & 5 night itineraries, and so much cheaper per day anyway than DCL. I bet for most families it would be hard to suddenly come up with that much more money, not to mention that many more days off at the last minute... I know I wouldn't be able to, LOL.

Well, I am READY. All packed, except for last-minute stuff like makeup and curling iron. And mentally, SO ready!!! I felt like Melissa's 2 year old, Beckett (*such* a cool name, BTW), who gets so excited when he sees the Magic on tv. Watching "King of the Nerds" the other night, they were passing around a familiar white bottle. I yelled, "That's my rum! That's my coconut rum!!" Tyler Dean just rolled his eyes at me, lol.

The NWS forecast for Friday is still holding at partly cloudy with highs in the mid-60's. Tyler Dean's girlfriend's dad is a meteorologist for the NWS, so I'm going to ask him for his best guess personalized forecast.

The next 4 days here at work are going to kill me! I'm bouncing off the walls with excitement!!


-gina-

 

[sarahfontenot]

Hi,

I am new to this but a friend suggested that I get on here and my cruise's facebook group to find some kids my 7 & 12 year old girls could meet when we get on the ship since she just did that a few weeks ago for her trip. I saw that it says that there is a facebook group so I wondered if the admin could add me. But I wasn't sure what info she would need from me. Since I just created logins today and this is my very first post, it won't let me PM her. Sorry that I am clueless! We are very excited about our trip!!

 

[sarahfontenot]

Hi,

I am new to this but a friend suggested that I get on here and my cruise's facebook group to find some kids my 7 & 12 year old girls could meet when we get on the ship since she just did that a few weeks ago for her trip. I saw that it says that there is a facebook group so I wondered if the admin could add me. But I wasn't sure what info she would need from me. Since I just created logins today and this is my very first post, it won't let me PM her. Sorry that I am clueless! We are very excited about our trip!!

 

[Chrisira2001]

Hi,

I am new to this but a friend suggested that I get on here and my cruise's facebook group to find some kids my 7 & 12 year old girls could meet when we get on the ship since she just did that a few weeks ago for her trip. I saw that it says that there is a facebook group so I wondered if the admin could add me. But I wasn't sure what info she would need from me. Since I just created logins today and this is my very first post, it won't let me PM her. Sorry that I am clueless! We are very excited about our trip!!

Hello! Welcome! I'm new too, I joined this forum a week ago. I don't know about the facebook group but my daughters are 11 yrs. and we'll be attending a meet on the first day of the cruise. Hope to see you there!

Christy

 

[dismom73]

There sure will be a lot of us flying out of SFO on Thursday. We are flying out on the 6am flight on United. I work for United and we fly standby, so the super early flights are usually the better ones to get on. Our friends that are cruising with us will be on a later flight on United, I think around 11 or 12. I know they arrive at IAH at 4pm. My kids made Valentines day cards for the flight attendants last night, and we bought them some Reeses peanut butter hearts...FYI, if you take care of the flight attendants, they take care of you.

Welcome Sarahfontenot! I have girls your age, my youngest DD is 8 and my middle one is 13, she is shy and more of a "young" 13. I know that there a ton of 11 yo girls on this sailing, I think the 11 yo girls outnumber all the other kids put together. So your girls should have no trouble at all making friends. With this sailing having the kids sail free offer and a lot of kids out of school the week of Presidents day, I don't think any child of any age will have trouble finding a friend.

For those of you that live in and around Houston...we are staying near IAH and have hired transportation to take us to the port Friday morning. We have scheduled a pick up time of 9am at our hotel. We are hoping to get to the port between 10:30 and 11. Do you think that time frame is doable with the traffic?

Andrea

 

[fatfish]

So disappointed. Tried to get the Mickey call tonight. Epic fail. It won't allow you to schedule a call after 8:00 PM local time. So I fibbed and said I was in Hawaii. I wanted the boys to get the call before bed. They sat on the sofa watching cars in their jammies but the call never came. We have no blocks or anything like that on our phone. We've had no issues with Disneyland calls. Any one else try to get the call? Did it work for you?

I guess we will try again for tomorrow.

I scheduled one for Christmas day. It was 2 hours late , but we did get the call. Maybe yours was just very late?

 

[Gina]

Hi,

I am new to this but a friend suggested that I get on here and my cruise's facebook group to find some kids my 7 & 12 year old girls could meet when we get on the ship since she just did that a few weeks ago for her trip. I saw that it says that there is a facebook group so I wondered if the admin could add me. But I wasn't sure what info she would need from me. Since I just created logins today and this is my very first post, it won't let me PM her. Sorry that I am clueless! We are very excited about our trip!!

I can't help you with the FB stuff, but I do know that people were going to try and get all the tween girls together at the first DIS meet on Friday... Hopefully one of them will chime in with more details!

And welcome to our thread!

-gina-

 

[fatfish]

For those of you that live in and around Houston...we are staying near IAH and have hired transportation to take us to the port Friday morning. We have scheduled a pick up time of 9am at our hotel. We are hoping to get to the port between 10:30 and 11. Do you think that time frame is doable with the traffic?

Andrea

You should be there by 11, probably before, providing there is no major wreck on I-45. 9 am is a good time to leave as traffic is winding down then.

 

[fatfish]

I am new to this but a friend suggested that I get on here and my cruise's facebook group to find some kids my 7 & 12 year old girls could meet when we get on the ship since she just did that a few weeks ago for her trip.

Sarah, welcome to the group!

As someone else has said, there is a boatload (pun intended) of 11 year old girls on this cruise, and a smattering of 10 and 12 year olds as well. My dd is 11, and is looking forward to having a small army of girls to hang with. We were trying to set up a meet just for the 10-12 year old girls during the regular meet. Not sure where that stands right now, but unless I hear differently, I'm considerering it to be happening. Maybe I'll make them a sign so the other girls can find them. Maybe something like this

4 days y'all. 4 days!!!!!

 

[sarahfontenot]

Thanks so much!! We will definitely be at the meet on the first day. Our girls go to a small private school so they are fairly reserved, so I'm hoping that if they meet some friends early on, it will make the trip much better for them!

Last Disney Cruise we went with 5 other families and they had their cousins to hang out with so I was a little worried about not having anyone for them this time. So glad to know that there will be lots of girls their age!!

If I can figure out how to post a pic, I will upload one of our crew! (You would have no idea that I am married to a web developer! haha)

Sarah