20050514..May 14, 2005...Official Check in Disney's 1st 14 Day thru Panama Canal Part 2

[SandraLee]

Does anyone else think they dont' have enough excursions if they are selling out 2 hours after opening? It seems like such a small percentage of the ship would even know you could book at 90 days, since most booked the cruise under the original guidelines and don't have to pay until 60 days.

Did anyone ask about the Dolphin thing in Curacau?

 

[kellib36]

I called WDW's special needs number, and after being passed through another dept and the operator, she put me through to DCL. The gal went through my list of possibilities for shore excursions and they all say either: no wheelchairs, or collapsible wheelchair/need to walk short distances, or collapsible wheelchair/short distances and stairs.

The Sierra Madre Tour at Mazatlan says wheelchairs not recommended at all stops...one place has cobblestones, wow! Bumpy ride anyone?!?!? Glass bottom boat on cc is no wheelchairs. (Knew that--thanks, Elaine!) The semi-submarine at Curacao says stairs, but when I questioned stairs or a vertical ladder, she said a ladder. Not a good idea.....hhmm, maybe we'll be "sightseeing" or doing the spa on port days......

Lynda, maybe we'll need to have our own "sightseeing from the boat" contest! We've got a few pairs of binoculars...maybe a shipboard version of "I spy!" "I spy, with my little eye, someone trying to get on a horse......"

Kelli

 

[videogal1]

Thanks for the info, Lynda! Why didn't I ask you to begin with?!?

So, what you're saying is: who knows?!?!?

My relaxation self is fighting with my planning self anyway! I knew going into this that we would only be doing thngs Etta can do. But I"m not sure I can do 2 weeks of relaxing!!!

Thanks for the info, I'm know you've put up with far more than I would guess.
Kelli

Well, no, what I'm saying is...without being a grindingly retro-activist about it...is that you, me, Etta, and any others who are interested in going on accessible excursions just plan to meet with Heath on one of the first days of the cruise and have him arrange accessible excursions for us. I will put his little toes to the fire..He knows I will be on this cruise...He and the rest of the Shore Excursion CMs are expecting me...I promised him a lot of yakking if accessible excursions were not available. He promised to get on the on-shore shore excursion folks about accessible excursions for the Repo cruises. What he ended up doing on the 10-day was arranging private excursions for those who needed accessibility and in that way I got my excursions...private ones. Don't fuss about excursions now..There are none that are accessible according to the SE folks...Just wait. The problem comes about if you prefer going with a gang of people. In that regard perhaps we could team up with those who have gotten blocked out of an excursion they wanted. They could just show up at the SE desk with us and talk to Heath about another, accessible excursion, that they could take with us...(unless they prefer not riding with dogs and wheelchairs, etc.... )

 

[Hygiene99]

Well, no, what I'm saying is...without being a grindingly retro-activist about it...is that you, me, Etta, and any others who are interested in going on accessible excursions just plan to meet with Heath on one of the first days of the cruise and have him arrange accessible excursions for us. I will put his little toes to the fire..He knows I will be on this cruise...He and the rest of the Shore Excursion CMs are expecting me...I promised him a lot of yakking if accessible excursions were not available. He promised to get on the on-shore shore excursion folks about accessible excursions for the Repo cruises. What he ended up doing on the 10-day was arranging private excursions for those who needed accessibility and in that way I got my excursions...private ones. Don't fuss about excursions now..There are none that are accessible according to the SE folks...Just wait. The problem comes about if you prefer going with a gang of people. In that regard perhaps we could team up with those who have gotten blocked out of an excursion they wanted. They could just show up at the SE desk with us and talk to Heath about another, accessible excursion, that they could take with us...(unless they prefer not riding with dogs and wheelchairs, etc.... )

Kellib36 and Lynda, This is something we might Be intrested in ..
Going with You guys.. Of Course Depending on what you choose
We did not Get on the Phone with Dcl this morning..
No Phrenzy for us.. As we are more of the, Go with the flow type of people and Nothing seemed, well Wow you have to do that.. we would be happy just touring islands on our own Sort of thing. Maybe a Dcl trip if The Mood is Right, KNOW WHAT I MEAN.. Island Time Definetly..

But If We hook up on the Ship We may just Be in The Mood To Tag Along.. Check with us..

maybe we'll need to have our own "sightseeing from the boat" contest! We've got a few pairs of binoculars...maybe a shipboard version of "I spy!" "I spy, with my little eye, someone trying to get on a horse......"

Kelli

Can We Play.. Peter

 

[kellib36]

> Don't fuss about excursions now..There are none that are accessible according to the SE folks...Just wait.

Gotcha!

> The problem comes about if you prefer going with a gang of people. In that regard perhaps we could team up with those who have gotten blocked out of an excursion they wanted. (unless they prefer not riding with dogs and wheelchairs, etc.... )

Wow! Are there such people.....not my kind of people anyway!!!
OK, I'll try to be patient!

Kelli

 

[seaulater]

We didn't do the rush to the phone yet either! We want to do the river rafting which we can't do till on board. We did it in Costa Rica last time through the PC and it was one of the highlights of our trip. Hopefully, the water will be good there!

We also read the stuff on Stone Island that Leslie and Joe (Disneypindiva) were thinking of doing. It sounds good and I figured I could get in a little horseback riding along the beach and something else without dragging DH all day on things he doesn't want to do. Leslie and Joe, you can have our free drinks!!!!

Linda

 

[seaulater]

I am now headed shopping. Need to exchange a couple of things and see if there are any hot deals out there that I can't live without!

My mom says she is going to join this thread, so we will see when she shows up. She was thinking of a name and came up with "anxioustocruise". So there you go, we will see what happens!

Later

Linda

 

[kellib36]

Can We Play.. (I spy) Peter

Do you have room in your suitcase for a pair of binoculars? It may have to be byob (hahaha) if it gets too much publicity!!!!

 

[kellib36]

GEEZ! I did forget my best news.........I finally got around to calling WDW to see if the Segway tour of Epcot is being offered on Friday the 13th....uh oh.....and it IS!!

Got Keith and I ressies for the 930am tour!! The best part is that Etta can do the same tour with an ECV! Finally, something all 3 of us can do together!!

 

[videogal1]

Yayyyyy !!! A TOP ! ! !

Kellib36 and Lynda, This is something we might Be intrested in ..
Going with You guys.. Of Course Depending on what you choose
We did not Get on the Phone with Dcl this morning..
No Phrenzy for us.. As we are more of the, Go with the flow type of people and Nothing seemed, well Wow you have to do that.. we would be happy just touring islands on our own Sort of thing. Maybe a Dcl trip if The Mood is Right, KNOW WHAT I MEAN.. Island Time Definetly..

But If We hook up on the Ship We may just Be in The Mood To Tag Along.. Check with us..


Can We Play.. Peter

WOW, that would be fun! On one tour-type excursion I wanted to go on during the 10-day I left my scooter at the ship, got special chair-pushing assistance from a CM to the excursion meeting point and got a hoist onto the tour bus. When I returned from the tour I was unable to walk very far, even with the assistance of Cash so someone contacted the ship and a CM brought a wheelchair to push me the rest of the way in (cobblestones can be fun). I go on cruises to see different places not to swing from the trees so my favorite excursion these days is a bus tour....I swam with the dolphins in Tortola and that was nice...was made very accessible by ANOTHER CRUISE LINE...ahem, but having the ship to ourselves could be an adventure, too...More time for sitting in the sun, out of the wind and printing scrapbook background pages....playing cards, testing the wine to make sure it wasn't ruined by all that airline time...LOTS of things to do...and, to top it off, everyone can play...

 

[NejTheLion]

We got everything we were hoping for:

Castaway Cay - Seahorse Catamaran Snorkel Adventure 9:15
Curacao - Spanish Water Snorkel Tour 8:20
Acapulco - El Mercado & Cliff Divers Experience 10:00
Mazatlan - Tequila, Saddles, and Huaraches 9:15
Cabo San Lucas - Santa Maria Sail & Snorkel Experience 8:20


Guess the next countdown is gonna be the 60-day mark for final payment...see if any other rooms open up

 

[videogal1]

We got everything we were hoping for:

Castaway Cay - Seahorse Catamaran Snorkel Adventure 9:15
Curacao - Spanish Water Snorkel Tour 8:20
Acapulco - El Mercado & Cliff Divers Experience 10:00
Mazatlan - Tequila, Saddles, and Huaraches 9:15
Cabo San Lucas - Santa Maria Sail & Snorkel Experience 8:20

Yayyyy
Would you take my disposable camera with you and snap a few pics of the countryside while you're having fun?......

 

[kellib36]

Swimming with dolphins would be fun, but I'd like to SEE things....bus tours are right up my alley!! Maybe Disney will import some type of vehicle for "us" and do it themselves!!!

 

[danicaw]

GEEZ! I did forget my best news.........I finally got around to calling WDW to see if the Segway tour of Epcot is being offered on Friday the 13th....uh oh.....and it IS!!

Got Keith and I ressies for the 930am tour!! The best part is that Etta can do the same tour with an ECV! Finally, something all 3 of us can do together!!

Hey, I am booked on that tour too!
Thats great that you can all enjoy it together.
It will be fun to meet you guys before the cruise.

 

[kellib36]

Hey, I am booked on that tour too!
Thats great that you can all enjoy it together.
It will be fun to meet you guys before the cruise.

Very cool!!! Have you Segway'd before? I had my 15 minutes on our first cruise, but Keith never has.....

 

[videogal1]

Swimming with dolphins would be fun, but I'd like to SEE things....bus tours are right up my alley!! Maybe Disney will import some type of vehicle for "us" and do it themselves!!!

Not likely, since their modus operandi are to hire local contractors to do the touring, sightseeing and schlepping. What THAT OTHER cruise line did last November is take the time and make the effort to round up every van-type taxi, every pickup truck and every retired ambulance that they could get a referral to and contract with them to deal with the 10 Service Dogs, their handlers, their handlers' scooters, power chairs and manual chairs and let those local contractors run the show. DCL is simply not in the habit of going out of their way to let the contractors know that they (DCL) is just as interested in providing great cruise excursions to both the able-bodied as well as those needing assistance. I spent a lot of time collecting business cards from taxi drivers and the taxi dispatchers on the islands we visited in November and December and talked my head off to everyone who would listen that accessible vehicles are needed. as DCL charges the disabled full price for their cruises it was only fair that they make .at least a little effort to give them what they pay for....a quality cruise...Not a quality cruise except for....I helped an independant taxi driver formulate a fund raising plan so he could afford to buy a used, but working, ramp-equipped van...I hope he succeeds... Maybe Oprah could help...

 

[smchan]

No Phrenzy for us.. As we are more of the, Go with the flow type of people and Nothing seemed, well Wow you have to do that.. we would be happy just touring islands on our own Sort of thing.

Amen to that... In 3 cruises I've been on all of 1 excursion. The ideal excursion for me is sleeping 'til the crack of noon, having a nice lunch in Lumiere, and finally a little people watching up top or a movie in the theater.

As for me... well, I got my room the day the cruise was available, the intent being that it would be my 10th anniversary trip. Meanwhile, I ended up taking an unplanned 7 day on the Magic back in December, so I'm feeling guilty over spending so much on vacations. (But I would still owe my wife a 10th anniversary trip.)

If I do make it onboard, I'll make some nice photos for the DIS crew. Perhaps a panorama of the canal or something.

http://www.pbase.com/srmchan/panoramas

Sam

 

[bonzie1]

WHAT FUN! ENJOY your SEGWAY tour! My DH + I did one last year. It was so much fun. I must admit, I was a little shakey at first (especially when someone ran into me on their Segway!!!

It is so beautiful riding through EPCOT before hours and enjoying the sights!
We went during the Flower and Garden festival, so things were especially pretty.

Here's a picture of us with our helmets and segways!

 

[moocow35]

Pin count is now up to 444! We should get the pricing this week, so please make sure I have you on the list with the correct amount.

Thanks!

3Dan – 20
Spros – 8
Videogal1 – 20
Q’smyPrincess – 12
SandraLee – 4
EnnisB – 10
Kevin&Randall – 20
ScottH – 6
Moocow35- 12
LittleKid58 – 10
Bonzie1 – 12
Tap&Dap – 12
Hmrgang – 5
EpcotKilterFan – 6
Seaulater – 12
Janis – 6
Meb51 – 6
AZPirates – 10
Hygiene99 – 20
Mickey&JoshNut – 4
Disneycruising – 8
Kellib36 – 15
AshleyDoc – 4
Mickbee – 3
BetteMom – 10
TadsMommy – 10
JenKatt – 2
Fast43 – 6
ShellofclearH20 – 2
Myfairygodmother – 8
Pappy – 2
Cotomom – 12
Maleficent59 – 20
Gene2Geno – 2
Tikigirl – 4
BobandLee – 2
Danicaw – 2
FirstTimers – 5
DisneyDreamer – 6
Brisully – 8
Kaylin – 4
WebmasterRegina – 3
NycCajun – 10
KaraEric – 2
Dalemm – 2
DVCMinnie – 4
Disneypindiva – 12
Nem – 12
NejtheLion – 3
DD3Rover – 10
Juli – 4
Wrabitdad – 10




Invaderzim – 10 (aug repo)
Ivanova – 2 (aug repo)
Disneyelf – 2 (aug repo)
Mom2Belle&PeterPan – 4 (aug repo)



Robin (aka Brunhilda Pink Toe )

 

[moocow35]

WHAT FUN! ENJOY your SEGWAY tour! My DH + I did one last year. It was so much fun. I must admit, I was a little shakey at first (especially when someone ran into me on their Segway!!!

It is so beautiful riding through EPCOT before hours and enjoying the sights!
We went during the Flower and Garden festival, so things were especially pretty.

Here's a picture of us with our helmets and segways!

Love the picture Georgie! Thanks for sharing!

Robin