20050618 - June 18, 2005 - Magic to Mexico

[dlander]

How exciting! I am new to the boards. We are also traveling June 18. My mom, DH, DD 12 and I. How do you know so much about the onshore excursions? We are early seating.

Jenn

 

[CruisingCA2005]

Welcome aboard Jenn!

Holly - I'm not sure when the clubs open. I've looked at different navigators and it varies (7:30, 9:00).

 

[vacationbug]

On the news is such sad and scarey information about S.Cal! I sincerely hope that none of our California friends are badly affected (or is it effected; drat! I always get the two confused! Argh!) by the mudslides and flooding. I know that flooding can do some pretty bad stuff, as there are people in our region still trying to recover from our flooded rivers in September.

Hang in there gang, be safe, and know that you and your families are in thoughts and prayers! Maybe soon this crazy weather will break and things will return to "normal" (whatever that means). Take care all!

 

[Hollyster2]

I saw on the news where a backyard swimming pool slid down a hill. Awful! I can't believe how much it is raining. I am keeping those residents in my thoughts and prayers.

 

[Hollyster2]

Ok, so thanks for checking out the kids club times. I did that too, and I am glad to see they will adjust the times with the days we are in port. I thought they did that, but read on another board the standard time every day was 9 a.m. Too late for port days! I am still trying to get information on the snorkeling in Cabo. I want to know what the main differences in the 3 snorkel excursions are. I wrote the DCL excursion desk, so maybe they will shed some light on the subject.

 

[vacationbug]

Hollyster: We're interested in one of the snorkling adventures in Cabo as well. I looked at the Chileno Bay (Tropicat) cruise and snorkle on-line and it looks pretty nice. It appears that Chileno Bay is nice for snorkling, scuba and swimming (there is a beach) but I don't know how far from the beach the catamaran will "anchor" and the time is short.

I worry about the mouth gear? Has anyone ever "rented" equipment and how gross is that? Since I work with science-based stuff, I worry about such things as viruses! Maybe I should invest in our own snorkels and wear the other "rented" gear? Anyone have any thoughts to that approach? Since it's only an hour of snorkling time it may not be worth the expense, but then again, the "yuk" factor may balance that out- ???

Thinking for Californians!

 

[CruisingCA2005]

The rain seems to be stopping here. We live on flat land so we don't have to worry about mudslides, etc. We missed the first large storm that came through S. California at the end of December because we were on vacation but it's certainly been very wet since then. Fortunately I don't have to deal with driving on the freeway in the rain 'cause I work very close to home.

I should be going to work soon but DH discovered a flat tire on my new car! It only has 1200 miles on it & we've already got a flat! LOL. He's out getting it fixed now.

 

[Hollyster2]

I have rented snorkel equipment once, and am seriously thinking of buying our own this time. I had read on a board that if you rent, bring alcohol wipes with you, but I would like to just buy the snorkel piece. If I buy the snorkel, is it best to buy the mask too? Do they even sell them seperately? I have to make up my mind on this.

 

[CruisingCA2005]

It may be a good idea because some people spit in their masks to prevent it from fogging up. Sounds nasty... I first took lessons when I was around 10 years old and I really gave the instructor a hard time. I refused to spit in my mask so he'd have to dive down to pick some seaweed so I could rub that in my mask instead. Then there was the time I refused to jump off a wall into the water 10 feet below so we could snorkle in that area. Oh yeah....how can I forget the time he took us to the "toilet bowl" at Hanauma Bay in Honolulu. I tried it once but got freaked out & ended up climbing on his shoulders so I could climb out of the "toilet bowl". Poor instructor....luckily my sister was more easy going than I was.

 

[vacationbug]

Oh just great - now I'm really gonna be grossed out! Spit and toilet bowls?? Yipes! Okay- I confess, I did snorkle at Hanauma Bay, (more than 10 years ago) but I didn't think I was in a toilet bowl?!! I remember watching the other snorkelers give the fish frozen peas!

We did snorkle with our own masks and snorkles at Castaway Cay in 2002, but the conditions were nowheres as wonderful as what I remembered at Hanauma Bay; fish weren't even colorful at CC. But DS and DD didn't "get" the snorkel part as easily and I thought perhaps with a so-called "dry snorkle" they'd enjoy it more (not tasting as much seawater accidently).

Oh by the way, you'll be able to see me a mile off, as I am really and truely going to be one of those dreaded "pasty-legged" "Central Staters".

I checked out the tanning salon by our house, but they're pushing the tanning beds, and since I've already have 2 separate scars on my upper back, I really don't want to look like a road map! (well, at least any more than I do already, I guess! ) I'll just resort to experimenting with the self-tanners (of course I do slather on my sunscreen/blockers everyday despite the fact that we have mostly cloudy days!) and hopefully I'll still resemble a human bean!

 

[CruisingCA2005]

There's an area of Hanauma Bay called the toilet bowl because it is a large pool-like area where the water rushes in & "flushes" out. I think the area may be blocked off now because it can be dangerous. You'd have to walk towards the left side of the bay to get to the toilet bowl. Here's a link if you want to check it out: http://www.hawaiiweb.com/oahu/sites_to_see/toilet_bowl.htm

I'm thinking about going to a tanning salon too. I want to try the Mystic tan (the spray on stuff) before the cruise. I can get a pretty nice tan when I'm out in the sun but I'm not one to lay out at the beach. Even when I was living in Hawaii people would comment on how white I was.

 

[tink1963]

Hello All,
I just received in todays mail a letter from DCL on information and an application for passports. I was planning on using birth cert. and driver licences as ID's. We are not world travelers by any means and have never had the need for them. What are some of your thoughts on this subject. I would rather not spend the extra $ to get something we may only use once.

 

[Hollyster2]

Hello All,
I just received in todays mail a letter from DCL on information and an application for passports.
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

What exactly is DCL advising? What did the paperwork say?

 

[vacationbug]

The letter advises you to get a passport. Included were one passport application and instruction form.

My DH and I do have our passports but we opted to get the kids their own (DS13 and DD9) as a matter of ease. For our first cruise to the Bahamas, we all had our Birth Certificates, but I worried the entire time about them (getting overly crinkled [-the raised seal issues], getting wet [it rained a lot on our cruise], getting lost, etc.) So this time we're using the passports. It could also be a helpful thing with the kids regarding the presence of threats of kidnapping over our nation.

Adult passports are good for 10 years, so really it is not too bad an investment for ease of use and security. Passports are more easily replaced than birth certificates.

There is a thread on the main cruise board about the passport issues; Note that the cost will increase come March!
This thread is located at:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=748389&goto=newpost

SNowing....School delay 2 hours! Of course it is not sunshining here today, but hopefully in California the sun will be visiting!

 

[Hollyster2]

<<<It appears that Chileno Bay is nice for snorkling, scuba and swimming (there is a beach) >>>>>

How did you find out there was a beach, vacation bug?

 

[CruisingCA2005]

We've been planning to get passports but haven't gotten around to it yet. We'll definitely get our pictures done & have them processed before they add the additional security fee on March 12th. We've always used our birth certificates when travelling but this will make things go smoother through customs and this will be our 4th time out of the US in 4 years. I've read that it may still be possible to use birth certificates on the west coast cruises but it will probably cause delays going through customs in Los Angeles.

The weather has been nice here the past 2 days but I believe it's supposed to rain again tonight.

 

[vacationbug]

Hollyster: I used a "search engine" to "investigate" Chileno Bay. Apparently it is a popular scuba dive site as well. I don't snorkel too often, much let alone know how to scuba dive, but I did read about the bay area. Sounded nice. If you want more information, I'll go back through to see what I found.

CruisingCA: Yea! for you guys having a break from the rain! We wound up with 5+ inches of the white stuff (of course they were only forecasting for 1-2 inches!) but today we've had a glorious bit of sunshine ourselves. Darned cold (in the teens wind chill wise this morning) but at least there's sunshine!

We're gonna check out our current snorkel gear this weekend...tee hee!

 

[TallMidgetGirl]

Hey, I'm 15 and I was wondering if any other 15-year-olds are going to be on this cruise.

 

[Hollyster2]

Tall Midget Girl is my daughter.
It will be her best friend turning 15 the day we ride with Randi's Horses!

 

[Hollyster2]

Have you checked out some of the other cruise meets threads? Some of them are really jumping. Who is ready to jump with me?