20040410 - Roll Call April 10, 2004 Easter Cruise!!

[DVC4US]

Good Morning Everyone!

KennyK - I so agree with you about the weather. We already have 8 inches of snow on the ground and we have a winter storm warning out for tonight. We could get anywhere from 3-9 inches depending on where we land in the storm. Oh what fun!

New updated list to go out later today or tomorrow. I'll be inside staying out of the snow anyway.

LeiLani (warm sunny thoughts, warm sunny thoughts)

 

[Denvick]

Hello all,

Hi Hansolo!!! Yes that was me in the Yankee hat. All my family members are going again. my DW and my two DS ( 12 and 10). We are all looking forward to the western carribean on the Magic. We will definitely hook up at the Radisson. I will be there on April 9 at about 1:00 in the afternoon.

Kenny K....I live in East Islip and work at Brookhaven National Laboratory. We are also flying out Friday on Southwest. What flight are you going out on? Let me know...Maybe we can hook up. Make sure you get those Lime Green Mickey swatches at Home Depot. Hopefully your Grandson and my son's can hook up. I am sure they will have a lot of things in common.

Almost below 60 days!!!!

Looking at the weather we are having today makes me really want this cruise to be here now!!!!

Talk to you all soon!!!!

Denvick

 

[Goodeguys]

Greetings Denvick!
We will also be at the Radisson on Friday. Our group includes
myself, DH, DS who will be 11 in May and DS who will be 9 in June. Sounds like there will be plenty of kids in this age range!

 

[DVC4US]

I have sent the expanded version to everyone who emailed me information, but here is the short list.

DIS NAME - NAMES & AGES

DVC4US - LeiLani & Rich
- Brittany - 15
- Brittney - 15 (Britt's friend)
- Alyssa - 8
- Charles & Pat (Grandparents)

dtheboys - Doug & Elizabeth
- Joey - 14
- Zack - 8

KennyK - Ken & Mary(DISname Mareka)
- Cindy (Daughter)
- Alex - 11(Grandson)

neverlandclub - Melissa & Shawn
- Luc - 11
- Braelynn - 9
- Briesa - 4
- Briar - 11 months
- Dory (Grandma)

mouseclick1 - Kelly & Larry
- Zach - 14
- Trevor - 12

Goodeguys - Diana & Mike
- Michael - 10
- Brian - 8

all4wdw - Barbara & Frank
- Jessica - 11
- Emily - 9
- Matthew - 6
- Grandparents

li1970 - Lisa & DH
- DD - 12
- DD - 10

lp69 - lp69 & DH
- DS - 9
- DD - 7
- Grandparents

Hans Solo - Jeff & Beth
- Erin - 14
- Matthew - 12

pinkdaisy - Cheryl
- Laura - 10

Denvick - Dennis & Vicki
- Steven - 12
- Gregory - 10

If there are any mistakes please let me know.

LeiLani

 

[Hans Solo]

Hey Everyone

We are at the "Magic"al 60 days away from sailing away into the Western Caribbean. Pay off the TA or get left behind.

 

[DVC4US]

Hi Hans Solo and everyone else,

We made our final payment last week!!!!!
Now I think tomorrow or Wednesday I will make reservations for our excursions.


DIS Meet - Okay everyone, let me know what you think. I was thinking about doing a DIS meet at the sail away party - Deck 10 terminal side for anyone who wants to be there. Also, maybe some of us can meet up in the terminal or for those of you staying at the Hyatt the night before maybe we can meet there. We arrive in Orlando at 1:00pm and we will leave for dinner at Victoria & Alberts at 5pm. Then the limo will pick us up on Saturday at 9:30 to go to the terminal. For the DIS meet in our suite I thought Tuesday at about 4:30 or so might be a good time. Everyone will have to be back on board from GC and those with early seating will have to get ready for dinner. If someone else can think of a better time please let me know. We could also possibly do it early afternoon on Monday. MIL and I will be doing High Tea at 3:30 (I think) so we could do it before then. What does everyone think? We will have drinks and snacks and would like for everyone to get a chance to see the cabin. If you can't make it during the time we set, let me know and we can find a time for you to get a chance to see the suite.

So, everyone let me know what they think and if anyone has any other suggestions please let me know.

LeiLani

 

[neverlandclub]

I am soooooo excited. It is freezing here!
We have a slight change of plan. Instead of flying in to Orlando the night before, we are driving. ( I am not a great flyer) We will be staying at the Grand Floridian the nights of April 8,9. Leilani, maybe we can meet you for a drink before your dinner at V&A?
We are planning to get to port about 10:30 am. We may do Chef Mickey's for breakfast that morning, just to get into the mood. We will have our lime green Mickey's visible at port. You really can't miss us, DH is 6ft 5 and I will be the blonde chasing 4 kids. LOL
Only 60 days!!!!!

NeverlandClub

 

[DVC4US]

Hi Melissa,

That sounds like a plan. As it gets closer we can make more concrete plans. We have dinner reservations at 6pm and plan to leave the Hyatt at 5pm to get there in plenty of time. We have to drop one off at Neverland Club on the way, so we should be there early enough to have a drink. I will have on something lime green also at the terminal and we are probably hard to miss also. FIL is about 6'5" and MIL is about 5'4" and we will have two teenagers with us. We should be able to find you guys because you will end up in the early boarding area with us if you are there early. We'll make firmer plans as it gets closer.

LeiLani

 

[Denvick]

Leilana,

We will be at the sail away party on Deck 10!! Hope to see everybody there. We will be staying at the Radisson in Port Canaveral on the 9th so if anybody wants to get together for dinner, let me know.

I personally think it would be better to have the DIS meet on Monday since we are at sea and there is no hustle and bustle getting back from the excursions and preparing for the early seating. Only a suggestion....It is your suite and whenever you think the time is best for you!!

Made the last payment and have already been making excursions through private companies. It seems apparent after talking to many people that the way to go is use repudiable tour companies othe than the DCL excursions. You get personalized treatment and less people. If anybody wants the websites, let me know!!

See ya all in less than 60!!!!!!!!

 

[mouseclick1]

Hey everyone!

Just got off the phone with DCL - booked my excursion for Cozumel!

Either time (Mon or Tue) is fine with us as far as the DIS meet goes. We'll also be on the lookout for everyone at the port! We'll be staying the night before at Vero Beach, and plan to arrive at the port around 10:30-11:00.

As I sit here typing, I can see it snowing like crazy outside! April 10 cannot get here soon enough!

 

[DVC4US]

Okay, let's go for Monday then. After thinking about it I have to agree with you Denvick, I think this would be a better day. As it gets closer we can decide on a tentitive time. After we get on the ship, maybe I can find out what is planned for Monday, so we don't do it when something big might be going on.

With all this snow on the ground (which at this rate I don't think is going to melt until June) I can't wait for our trip to WDW in March and the cruise in April. We were originially scheduled to cruise on March 20th but had to change because of work conflicts and to get the Cat 1. I sometimes look at the post for the March 20th cruisers and I am green with envy that their countdowns say 39 days.

LeiLani

 

[Goodeguys]

Hey Melissa,
I don't suppose you would have any extra room for a really petite fellow Ellicott City cruiser!!! I have never liked to fly and tried to talk my guys into driving, no deal.
Being the ultra-organized person that I am, (friends and family have other words to describe my sense of efficiency...) we are paid in full, with Captain Marvin's Stingray City excursion book for Grand Cayman. That one got rave reviews on the boards. We may just hang on the beach on Cozumel, friends have told my kids about all the great water toys (iceberg, trampoline, etc) so they will be happy to stay in the water all day!
Lei Lani, whatever works for your family is great for us. A DIS meet at the sail away party is a terrific idea. I expect that with all the limegreen Mickeys at the terminal, many of us will have had a chance to meet already.
These next 60 days will really fly by, and we can hardly wait.
DH coaches lacrosse and both boys play and last week we found out that the first game will be April 17th, and they don't care!!
That's BIG!!
Ok, enough from me, I can't wait to meet everyone!

 

[Hans Solo]

We're putting together our SASE to Shirley for Key West info. See link:
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=503175
Denvick, how 'bout posting the links for the excursions you are doing on your own. We would like to compare our options. Thanks.

 

[neverlandclub]

We really should try to meet up before the cruise seeing that we live so close to one another. I am sure we have probably passed each other millions of times.

We did Captain Marvins last time- FANTASTIC! That is truly the way to go. We have opted this time to go to the Marriott Courtyard for the day- $10 bucks per person gives you a chair, towel, drink and use of the pool. Easy day with our baby.
In Cozumel, we read about the new beach called Paradise Beach on cruise critic- sounds like it is wonderful. It's free and they have all kinds of water toys, a restaurant that serves you in the sand, and plenty of shade if needed.
Key West I just want to shop for some Key Lime pie dipped in chocolate and those Kino sandals I keep hearing about.
Anyway, just can't wait. My screensaver is of castaway cay- my happy place~!

Melissa
NeverlandClub

 

[Denvick]

Hello all,

Well I called DCL last night and found out that I still had an outstanding balance after I received a recieipt saying that I paid in full. After waiting on the phone for about 10 minutes they came back and told me that the tax at Key West has gone up to about $2.50 per person starting April 10. Our Cruise!!! No big deal..just thought that I would let everybody know so they are not suprised when they have a balance on there cruise payment.
Did anybody else experience this?

Okay..her goes the websites where you can book alternative excursions and sometimes pay less depending on children's ages amongst other things.

http://www.shoretrips.com/

This is where I booked the Jeep excursion. About 5 more bucks than the DCL one, but it is personalized. You see more and there are only 1-2 jeeps..Very personalized. I tried to book the Dolphin Royal Swim here also but they were already booked up. My research has indicated that the Dolphin experience that DCL offers is not the same. The Royal Swim allows you to Swim with the dolphins and interact with them. Shore trips has many excursions that DCL offers. You just have to go through the list.


http://www.captainmarvins.com/

this is where I booked the Stingray City excursion. Alot less people and alot less money. I booked the half day excursion and saved about $80-100 because they have a child rate.

Hope this helps. All of my decisions were based on a posting I listed about three weeks ago regarding excursions.

Good Luck!

 

[DVC4US]

Denvick - thanks for the links. We usually do our excursions through DCL but I need to show DH Capt Marvins website and see what he says. We would also be interested in the half day excursion. Are you going on the early one or the late one? I am assuming the early one because I think the late one is scheduled to return close to our departure time from GC.

We plan on doing a jet ski tour in Key West, Stingray City in GC, and either the dolphin swim (we are on a wait-list), or the Fury Catamaran Sail, Snorkel, & Beach Party in Cozumel. DD and her friend are going parasailing at CC and DH and FIL will be doing the seahore snorkel tour.

LeiLani

 

[DVC4US]

I just read about this on another thread on the cruise line boards. It said that the increase is starting with our cruise, so I was wondering if it would affect us and now I know. The other posting
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=507477 said that there was an increase in KW & GC for a total of about $3.63. I guess I need to check with the TA to make sure this has been paid.

LeiLani

 

[Denvick]

LeiLana,

We are going on the early half day excursion. I usually book with DCL also but I have heard so much good news about using Captain Marvins and shore Trips that I thought I would give it a try.

I think the tax increase in Key West is only about $2.70 per person because when I called the increase was only $10.00 and some change for the four of us. The operator tried to get it reversed but her manager told her that even though I paid in full already, the terms and conditions state that DCL has the right at anytime to increase the cost of the trip if port charges increase! Of course it has to start on April 10....No big deal I was just confused when I called and they told me I had a balance.

I heard the Dolphin swim through DCL is not that good. If you call Shoretrips they can book a Royal Swim at Playa Del Carmen for $119.00. The Royal Swim at Chanakaab Park is already filled but for a small ferry ride and taxi you can get to Playa Del Carmen and enjoy the same Dolphin Encounter. You will actually glide through the water with the Dolphins pushing or carrying you amongst other things that you will not be able to do on thew DCL Dolphin Encounter. Just a thought!

We were planning on doing the Kayak Tour at Key West. I have reservations but might cancel. Not sure. Does anybody know anything about it? The jet ski excursion sounds great!!! Where are you renting them from and for how long?

My boys want to ride the banana boat at CC so we reserved that.
I was also thinking about reserving the Parasailing also. I will see if everybody is up to it.

Dennis

 

[DVC4US]

Dennis,

We did the dolphin encounter through DCL last year and it was okay. Just right for us because DD was only 7 and you have to be 8 to do the swim. You stand waist deep in water and the dolphin swims by while you get to touch it and then you get to kiss it. We are on the wait list for the swim and may consider looking into Playa Del Carmen as an option. I still have to book the jet skis for KW and one company (which Shirley knows the owner) is called Key Kats. I am going to call on Thursday or wait till Monday (because I know Friday & Saturday will be busy for her) to get the number from Shirley. I believe Key Kats is on the corner of First and Duval streets and there is another company located right on the pier(at least there was last year) but I do not know their name. From what I understand this is a jet ski tour where you have a guide that takes you around the island and I believe they take you to an area where you can swim or play on the jet skis for a while. I will try to check into it some more and let you know if you are interested.

LeiLani

 

[DVC4US]

Dennis,

I finally found the number for the Jet Ski tour place that is on the pier. The name is Island Watersports and there website address is http://www.island-watersports.com. Phone number is
888-382-7864. They will probably answer Extreme Tavel Club but they are the ones who run Island Watersports. I called this morning and Kevin returned my call and left me a message. He said the guided tours are for 1 1/2 hours and the cost is $95 per jet ski. You can have an additional person on the jet ski for an extra $10 and they hold up to 3 people. I am going to try to call him back tomorrow and make our reservation. Shirley recommends Key Cats but we wanted something close. Also, I made the reservation with Capt. Marvin's in GC. Maybe we will end up on the same boat. I forgot to ask when I made the reservation, but I thought I would call back this weekend to see if they can put us on the same boat. Is that okay with you?

LeiLani