20041218-cruise-friends-memories

[Kabuli1]

We've got a hold on a cat 8 and a cat 11 across the hall for myself , DH, DD(then 18) and DS#2 (then 21) It'a about 10K - and we are completely broke! I don't know where we'll come up w. the 1000 to reserve it - but it's no loss is we have to cancel later - or even transfer our deposit to another cruise! I love St Lucia - went there on our honeymoon (24 years ago) we'll have passed our 25th next summer - we could consider this our 25th anniversary, right???

I hope, hope, hope we can be there!

Karyn

 

[Lorraine]

We're in!!

Cat 6 on level 6. We have been waiting for the announcement since before last Xmas. I agree is it a lot, but it is really 1 1/2 cruises with lots of ports and plenty of days at sea (my favourite!)

At least we have nearly 18 months to save up!!

Looking forward to it already.

Lorraine

 

[kpros]

We are in as well. We have a Cat 6 and Cat 11 on Deck 6. We were on the phone at 8:00am ET (5:00am PT) and couldn't get early dinner.

We will be saving our pennies for the next 18 months.

Ken

 

[goofydadeo]

We are sooo excited! This will be DCL cruise #6 for us and our first Christmas Cruise. The itinerary is outstanding! I would love to hear from anyone who has cruised over Christmas especially how Santa handles the logistics. Anyone know of a thread on this topic? Anyway we can't wait!!!

Goofydadeo, DW, DS10 & DD6

 

[WDWLVR]

Originally posted by goofydadeo
We are sooo excited! This will be DCL cruise #6 for us and our first Christmas Cruise. The itinerary is outstanding! I would love to hear from anyone who has cruised over Christmas especially how Santa handles the logistics. Anyone know of a thread on this topic? Anyway we can't wait!!!

Goofydadeo, DW, DS10 & DD6

This is our cruise #6 as well and our first Christmas Cruise. We spent the last holiday season (but not over Christmas) at the parks and doing the same this year. Yes, it is a lot of money, but we are looking at it as a once in a lifetime combo. If we feel next year we can't swing it we have plenty of time to cancel. As of right now we are going for it!

 

[b&bdiscruisers]

It looks like we may also be going too! I've got a hold on cat.6 cabin. We have a cruise booked for May next year, of course I'll be cancelling. I know what to expect weather wise since we've been Eastern twice before (May) but what are the highs & lows in temperatures at Christmas down there at the Islands & how about water temperature? I wonder how it will be out on deck at night? Anyone?

 

[MarkRG]

Actually, I wasn't counting it on days, but by the number of foreign ports visited. A typical 7 day goes to 2 ports. This 10 day is going to 5. That comes out to 2 1/2 cruises. With all the costs of visiting each port, which is not in small numbers. That, more than anything is where the price tag for this cruise must be coming from. Again, I certainly don't deny it's a lot of money, but I think for what is offered it is going to be worth it. And we still do have a very long time to back out if the financial situation won't meet it.

 

[DVC4US]

We are in with a Cat 4. Really wanted a Cat 3, but they were all gone. The only thing I do not like about the itinerary is that we will be in St. Thomas on Christmas Day. It is kind of a bummer because I am sure nothing will be open, so I guess we will just spend the day on the boat.

Anyone ever cruise over Christmas? Do they do anything really special for Christmas Dinner? Any other Christmas activities going on during the cruise? Thanks for any help.
LeiLani

 

[CRSNDSNY]

Originally posted by LNaylor863
Anyone ever cruise over Christmas? Do they do anything really special for Christmas Dinner? Any other Christmas activities going on during the cruise? Thanks for any help.
LeiLani

We cruised DCL Christmas 2001 and were in St. Maarten on Christmas Day. Although half of the island was closed, it was the best Christmas EVER! To me, nothing could top sunbathing on Orient Beach, drinking Corona and laying next to my new hubby! It is one of my fondest memories! I also remember Mrs. Claus telling stories in the Atrium, a tree lighting ceremony complete with pixie dust and Christmas cookies in our staterooms when we returned from dinner on Christmas Eve. I'm sure there's more, but those are just some of the special events that stand out to me. I have pictures of everything on my webshots link below.

We wish we could make the 10day next year, but we'll be doing the Western for the first time next May.

 

[Christmas2004]

We're going!

Harvey & Mary (both in our early 40's at cruise time), and William (7 at cruise time).

We booked a Category 11 to save money, but we'll be as close as possible to the secret deck at Deck 7 Aft!

 

[b&bdiscruisers]

I have officially modified my May 2004 cruise to Dec. 18, ten day cruise! So count me and my hubby in! We're in cabin 6030--decided to go from Catagory 5 to 6 to save some money but heck it's only 1 deck down from what we had & we still have a veranda!
Sure am glad we have 17 months to pay it off, that doesn't hurt so much! Guess I'd better change my countdown clock
CRSNDSNY-- Your description of some of the Christmas activities is so wonderful & sweet! This is really going to be a special time!

 

[MarkRG]

LNTaylor-(and others) We've already looked into this a bit - Don't worry, enough of St.Thomas will be open on Christmas Day, they know there will be ships in port and will not pass up an opportunity to do buisness.

 

[DVC4US]

Thanks MarkRG. It probably wouldn't matter anyway, because we always have fun on the Disney ship. Forgot to mention in my other post, it will be me 41, DH 42, DD 15, & DD 8 (ages at time of cruise). We are also going on the March 20, 2004 Eastern so we are doing 2 Disney cruises in one year.
LeiLani

 

[Dave_from_Marietta]

Originally posted by b&bdiscruisers

what are the highs & lows in temperatures at Christmas down there at the Islands & how about water temperature?

I don't know about water temperature, but I was able to average the air temperatures for those dates over ten years of data.

It should be warm at Key West and Castaway Cay although it could potentially be quite cool. It should be <b><i>very</i></b> warm at St. Maarten, St. Lucia, Antigua, and St. Thomas.

<table border=0><tr valign=top><td></td><td align=center colspan=4><b>Key West</b>, <i>Dec. 19</i></td></tr><tr valign=top><td><i>(10 years of data)</i></td><td width=10></td><td align=center><b>Low</b></td><td width=10></td><td align=center><b>High</b></td></tr><tr valign=top><td align=right><b>Min</b></td><td width=10></td><td align=center>59.0° F / 15.0° C</td><td width=10></td><td align=center>73.4° F / 23.0° C</td></tr><tr valign=top><td align=right><b>Max</b></td><td width=10></td><td align=center>73.4° F / 23.0° C</td><td width=10></td><td align=center>81.0° F / 27.2° C</td></tr><tr valign=top><td align=right><b>Avg</b></td><td width=10></td><td align=center>67.0° F / 19.4° C</td><td width=10></td><td align=center><b>78.5° F / 25.8° C</b><br><br></td></tr><tr valign=top><td></td><td align=center colspan=4><b>St. Maarten</b>, <i>Dec. 22</i></td></tr><tr valign=top><td></td><td width=10></td><td align=center><b>Low</b></td><td width=10></td><td align=center><b>High</b></td></tr><tr valign=top><td align=right><b>Min</b></td><td width=10></td><td align=center>71.2° F / 21.8° C</td><td width=10></td><td align=center>82.8° F / 28.2° C</td></tr><tr valign=top><td align=right><b>Max</b></td><td width=10></td><td align=center>78.8° F / 26.0° C</td><td width=10></td><td align=center>86.0° F / 30.0° C</td></tr><tr valign=top><td align=right><b>Avg</b></td><td width=10></td><td align=center>75.3° F / 24.1° C</td><td width=10></td><td align=center><b>84.4° F / 29.1° C</b><br><br></td></tr><tr valign=top><td></td><td align=center colspan=4><b>St. Lucia</b>, <i>Dec. 23</i></td></tr><tr valign=top><td></td><td width=10></td><td align=center><b>Low</b></td><td width=10></td><td align=center><b>High</b></td></tr><tr valign=top><td align=right><b>Min</b></td><td width=10></td><td align=center>74.7° F / 23.7° C</td><td width=10></td><td align=center>84.2° F / 29.0° C</td></tr><tr valign=top><td align=right><b>Max</b></td><td width=10></td><td align=center>80.2° F / 26.8° C</td><td width=10></td><td align=center>86.9° F / 30.5° C</td></tr><tr valign=top><td align=right><b>Avg</b></td><td width=10></td><td align=center>77.2° F / 25.1° C</td><td width=10></td><td align=center><b>85.5° F / 29.7° C</b><br><br></td></tr><tr valign=top><td></td><td align=center colspan=4><b>Antigua</b>, <i>Dec. 24</i></td></tr><tr valign=top><td></td><td width=10></td><td align=center><b>Low</b></td><td width=10></td><td align=center><b>High</b></td></tr><tr valign=top><td align=right><b>Min</b></td><td width=10></td><td align=center>73.4° F / 23.0° C</td><td width=10></td><td align=center>80.6° F / 27.0° C</td></tr><tr valign=top><td align=right><b>Max</b></td><td width=10></td><td align=center>77.0° F / 25.0° C</td><td width=10></td><td align=center>86.0° F / 30.0° C</td></tr><tr valign=top><td align=right><b>Avg</b></td><td width=10></td><td align=center>74.8° F / 23.8° C</td><td width=10></td><td align=center><b>83.7° F / 28.7° C</b><br><br></td></tr><tr valign=top><td></td><td align=center colspan=4><b>St. Thomas</b>, <i>Dec. 25</i></td></tr><tr valign=top><td></td><td width=10></td><td align=center><b>Low</b></td><td width=10></td><td align=center><b>High</b></td></tr><tr valign=top><td align=right><b>Min</b></td><td width=10></td><td align=center>71.6° F / 22.0° C</td><td width=10></td><td align=center>82.0° F / 27.8° C</td></tr><tr valign=top><td align=right><b>Max</b></td><td width=10></td><td align=center>77.0° F / 25.0° C</td><td width=10></td><td align=center>91.9° F / 33.3° C</td></tr><tr valign=top><td align=right><b>Avg</b></td><td width=10></td><td align=center>73.7° F / 23.2° C</td><td width=10></td><td align=center><b>85.7° F / 29.8° C</b><br><br></td></tr><tr valign=top><td></td><td align=center colspan=4><b>Castaway Cay</b>, <i>Dec. 27</i></td></tr><tr valign=top><td></td><td width=10></td><td align=center><b>Low</b></td><td width=10></td><td align=center><b>High</b></td></tr><tr valign=top><td align=right><b>Min</b></td><td width=10></td><td align=center>45.7° F /  7.6° C</td><td width=10></td><td align=center>66.2° F / 19.0° C</td></tr><tr valign=top><td align=right><b>Max</b></td><td width=10></td><td align=center>70.9° F / 21.6° C</td><td width=10></td><td align=center>84.0° F / 28.9° C</td></tr><tr valign=top><td align=right><b>Avg</b></td><td width=10></td><td align=center>58.2° F / 14.5° C</td><td width=10></td><td align=center><b>73.4° F / 23.0° C</td></tr></table>


Sounds good to me. Wish I could sign up!

 

[TnRobin]

Thanks Dave. Ah come on - go with us - you got 18 months to save up.

 

[b&bdiscruisers]

thanks for the info, Dave, sounds like it will be good warm weather! Wish you all could go!

 

[LG123]

Thanks Dave. Sounds great!

Happy Cruising!

 

[trishy]

I'm thinking along the same line as Mark, that there will be plenty of people on St. Thomas wanting to rake in as much money as they can from us cruisers - even though it's Christmas day.

For the DCL "powers that be": Suggestion for 12/18/04 Xmas cruise theme - Nightmare B4 Xmas

 

[CRSNDSNY]

Originally posted by trishy
I'm thinking along the same line as Mark, that there will be plenty of people on St. Thomas wanting to rake in as much money as they can from us cruisers - even though it's Christmas day.

It was either the Dutch or French side of St. Maarten that was closed on Christmas Day in 2001, so I don't think it really mattered to them...not sure how the residents of St. Thomas will be.

 

[WDWLVR]

We want to do Coral World again and checked their web site - they are open on holidays and that includes Christmas. They have a great beach right next door as well.

Yes, some of the merchants may be closed but since tourism is their #1 industry they might not. Think of how many stores are open here in the states - much more than 5, 10, or 20 years ago!