20060902--Eastern Sept 2nd, 2006

[tggrbuny]

1 You can arrive as early as 10am however most people are not allowed on board till around noon. There is plenty to do. There is lunch, exploring and simply just soaking up the sun by the pool.

2 I am firm believer in early rather than late, late is too stressful

3 Yes they hold some Palo times back for online reservations. This is another reason to get there as early as possible.

4. Shore excursion people are the earliest, then the lower decks, then the upper decks followed 1.5 hours after the first are the ones who don’t want to get off in St Thomas. I think they start at 630am

Courtney,

THANK YOU. The site you gave has a ton of good things. I really appreciate your help!!

I can't believe there are only 33 more days!!! I'm getting more nervous and excited. My parents have finally opted to fly with us the day before and changed their reservations. I was a little worried about meeting then the next day at the airport and then driving to the port and actually making it on time.

I told my mom that I was on this thread and she asked me to ask a few questions for her - so here they are......
1. What time does Disney let you on the boat?
2. What is the best time to arrive for checkin?
3. If we were not able to make reservations for Palo's online, how do we go about that on the boat? Will there be spaces available?
4. When at St. Thomas, she is worried about the customs check. What time would that be and does everyone have to show up? Is there a particular location everyone meets or can you stand outside your door?

I believe that is all I can remember from our lengthy conversation, but I'm sure there is more.....

 

[BigBlueMan]

3 Yes they hold some Palo times back for online reservations. This is another reason to get there as early as possible.

Don't be surprised when you visit Palo if there are LOTS of empty tables. We were told they go by number of people served in a night, rather than by filling every table. I've seen many tables sitting unused on a night when they are "sold out".

 

[gdulaney]

Don't be surprised when you visit Palo if there are LOTS of empty tables. We were told they go by number of people served in a night, rather than by filling every table. I've seen many tables sitting unused on a night when they are "sold out".

They also stagger the seating...so the servers (and kitchen) aren't stacked. Yum!! Just thinking about Palo makes me hungry. I can't wait until the cruise!!!!

Ginny

 

[ugarxdawg]

Glad you and your family had a great time! Now you can all relax on the cruise!

Thanks. A week at Disney can be stressful. We are really ready to relax on the cruise. No running to get a fastpass.

 

[ugarxdawg]

Hey Monstro are you out there? Have not heard from you in quite a while. You are usually posting a couple of times a day when we get this close to the cruise.

 

[racrj]

TGGRBUNY: THANKS!!! My mom and I just read your post. Thanks a bunch for answering all of the questions. We are really excited!!!!

 

[joshua121301]

So what will you be doing one month from now? And where is Monstro?

 

[CourtneyMc]

So what will you be doing one month from now? And where is Monstro?

I was wondering if/when someone was going to note we are exactly a month away!!! Our paper chain is now 2/3 of the way up the staircase instead of reaching all the way to the bottom!

One thing I'm wondering about-- has anyone brought along beach towels for going to the beach on your own? I know they're provided at CC and if you go on a disney excursion, but we're going to do our own thing. I don't really want to waste the space for 4 towels, or drag home sandy ones (yuck) but I can't remember how big the ones by the pool are.

what's the earliest anyone's gotten to port and what's the earliest anyone's gotten on board? Just wondering if it's worth getting to PC at 10 or if we'll end up sitting around 2 hours?

The shuttle launch- Brian, I don't know what you decided about trying to see it, but in case you haven't heard, they've moved the launch window up to Aug. 27 and are looking into moving it to the 26th...

That's all for now =)

 

[CourtneyMc]

I knew there was something else I wanted to throw out there- if you've been on the 7 night before, how much did you pack? The last week long vacation I've been on that didn't involve staying at someone's house so I could do laundry easily was my honeymoon (1994)! Wow, that's a strange realization come to think of it. We've never done a family vacation for more than a few days other than visiting friends/relatives.

So, back to my question, especially those of you with kids- how many suitcases do you bring? Do you do laundry on board? I checked the pricing and sending it out isn't going to be an option for us. How many outfits do you pack for daytime? I am hoping with being in swimsuits a lot we might be able to get by with 4-5 daytime outfits, but maybe I'm being unrealistic and should suck it up and plan to pack 7 pairs of shorts/shirts per person? I just think that plus dinner attire is going to be a lot of clothes!

Speaking of suitcases, if I end up with one bag per person (roller carryon size, not jumbo) for the 4 of us, plus a hanging bag for formal wear, is there room in the stateroom for all the luggage once we've unpacked?? Where do you put it all? I don't remember there being a huge closet to store the bags in... We're in a cat 5.

Anyone know off the top of your head where the laundry rooms are located? Just curious how close we'll be to one.

THanks!

Courtney

 

[bielen]

I have a question regarding sleeping arrangements which somebody can hopefully answer.

We have three-year old twin girls. They currently sleep in toddler beds at home moving shortly to a twin bed.

With the bars on the top bunk, is it safe to put a three-year old on the top bunk? What other options are available other than the main bed? Is it worth it to bring the blow-up mattress and have one of the girls sleep on that?

Thanks for any info.

 

[disneylandfamily]

CourtneyMc - The suitcases can fit under the bed. Just lift the mattresses up and put the suitcases under. Even jumbo suitcases fit under. We didn't know that on our first crusie. It was something I learned on the disboards!!!!!

 

[tggrbuny]

Courtney,

First of all I am absolutely as excited as you! Can’t hardy believe it is finally happening!

About the laundry questions: on other cruise lines (and I am certain things are the same on DCL), laundry is easy to do in the middle of the night. I know there are rooms on three different floors. Last time I set the alarm for 4am, started the load, went and took care of internet stuff, came back change it over, and had pleasant early breakfast with the other people who are crazy and get up so early on vacation. I just take a nap by the pool later in the day!

For packing, we usually only bring 4/5 of each type of item (shirt, short etc) and try to stay in matching color realms. That way you can mix and match. No one should care that your repeat parts of outfits and even if they do, you are never going to meet them again.

The towels we brought on the first two cruises never got used and took up valuable space. You’ll be happier not getting sand all over the cabin and in your luggage. Save your luggage room for the stuff that will make your trip enjoyable and not a chore

 

[HollyTyler]

Courtney: Last time, for myself I took 4 pairs of capris, 6 shirts, one dress that could be worn with the jacket part for formal night and without for semi-formal night and 1 pair of sandals (wore tennis shoes on the way there so I'd have them for walking excursions). For Tyler I took probably 10 shorts outfits and dress slacks with nice shirt & tie and dress shoes for formal night. I did this planning on doing laundry halfway through, which I did. We used 1 full size suitcase for both our clothes and one child size suitcase for some extra items which we used as a carryon. Worked great for us! I'm all about traveling as light as possible.

I don't remember the exact location, but I believe there is a laundry room on decks 2, 5, and 6.

 

[tggrbuny]

We have changed our plans and are staying at the OKW Friday night.

Since we are driving the van, we will have lots of room. Does anyone need or want to travel with us to the port? If you are interested just pm me.

Just a warning…we will want to get to DCL asap Saturday morning so we will be leaving WDW around 8:30 am .

Our motivation is cut our travel costs expenses (in case you are wondering why we are offering). And if anyone is interested, we can take you back to where ever you want because we are going to head home on Saturday after the cruise.

Wish we could stay and play in the parks but we have to get the blank blank blank blank blank blank house sold!!!

 

[ugarxdawg]

I knew there was something else I wanted to throw out there- if you've been on the 7 night before, how much did you pack? The last week long vacation I've been on that didn't involve staying at someone's house so I could do laundry easily was my honeymoon (1994)! Wow, that's a strange realization come to think of it. We've never done a family vacation for more than a few days other than visiting friends/relatives.

So, back to my question, especially those of you with kids- how many suitcases do you bring? Do you do laundry on board? I checked the pricing and sending it out isn't going to be an option for us. How many outfits do you pack for daytime? I am hoping with being in swimsuits a lot we might be able to get by with 4-5 daytime outfits, but maybe I'm being unrealistic and should suck it up and plan to pack 7 pairs of shorts/shirts per person? I just think that plus dinner attire is going to be a lot of clothes!

Speaking of suitcases, if I end up with one bag per person (roller carryon size, not jumbo) for the 4 of us, plus a hanging bag for formal wear, is there room in the stateroom for all the luggage once we've unpacked?? Where do you put it all? I don't remember there being a huge closet to store the bags in... We're in a cat 5.

Anyone know off the top of your head where the laundry rooms are located? Just curious how close we'll be to one.

THanks!

Courtney

On our first couple of cruises we tried to pack enough for a different outfit each day. Of course, that was when we just had 2 kids. Now we have 4. When we discovered the laundry we used it to keep from taking home only dirty clothes. We found out it was really easy. Now we are able to pack a little less. We just plan on doing laundry one day in the middle (not a lot, just 1 or 2 loads). Just remember to take a roll of quarters with you. The change machines do not work all the time.

 

[HollyTyler]

I have a question regarding sleeping arrangements which somebody can hopefully answer.

We have three-year old twin girls. They currently sleep in toddler beds at home moving shortly to a twin bed.

With the bars on the top bunk, is it safe to put a three-year old on the top bunk? What other options are available other than the main bed? Is it worth it to bring the blow-up mattress and have one of the girls sleep on that?

Thanks for any info.

I would still worry about her going over the bars on the top bunk, but that's only because my son used to sit up in bed in the middle of the night while still asleep, and then flop back down in another direction, usually to his side (which would send him over a rail, unless it's really high). But my kid is just a little strange, I suppose....

 

[CourtneyMc]

I have a question regarding sleeping arrangements which somebody can hopefully answer.

We have three-year old twin girls. They currently sleep in toddler beds at home moving shortly to a twin bed.

With the bars on the top bunk, is it safe to put a three-year old on the top bunk? What other options are available other than the main bed? Is it worth it to bring the blow-up mattress and have one of the girls sleep on that?

Thanks for any info.

I would say it depends on what kind of sleeper the girls are. If they are floppy all over the place crazy sleepers like I think Holly said Tyler is, I wouldn't. The rail isn't that high or long- though I have heard you can ask for an extended rail. The beds aren't that high up- I had no problem letting my son sleep up there when he was 4, but I knew he could climb in and out without a problem.

As for your question about a blow-up mattress- it would be a pain in the butt to inflate and deflate each day if you got one that's comfortable/big enough to be worth using, IMHO. What I would do is go let the girls pick out a 'special sleeping towel' (you know, a princess beach towel, or whatever they would get excited about) and let them take turns sleeping on the floor on the 'special sleeping towel' and the bottom bunk. My kids have never had a problem sleeping on a floor though- if your girls are really picky about a soft squishy surface to sleep on that might not work- but I would bet they'll be so sleepy it won't matter =).

-Courtney

 

[Joyce]

I knew there was something else I wanted to throw out there- if you've been on the 7 night before, how much did you pack? The last week long vacation I've been on that didn't involve staying at someone's house so I could do laundry easily was my honeymoon (1994)! Wow, that's a strange realization come to think of it. We've never done a family vacation for more than a few days other than visiting friends/relatives.

So, back to my question, especially those of you with kids- how many suitcases do you bring? Do you do laundry on board? I checked the pricing and sending it out isn't going to be an option for us. How many outfits do you pack for daytime? I am hoping with being in swimsuits a lot we might be able to get by with 4-5 daytime outfits, but maybe I'm being unrealistic and should suck it up and plan to pack 7 pairs of shorts/shirts per person? I just think that plus dinner attire is going to be a lot of clothes!

Speaking of suitcases, if I end up with one bag per person (roller carryon size, not jumbo) for the 4 of us, plus a hanging bag for formal wear, is there room in the stateroom for all the luggage once we've unpacked?? Where do you put it all? I don't remember there being a huge closet to store the bags in... We're in a cat 5.

Anyone know off the top of your head where the laundry rooms are located? Just curious how close we'll be to one.

THanks!

Courtney

I thought we could bring 2peices of luggage each we are. I'm packing seven shorts, ect. 2 formal and suit. 6 dinner clothes, a bunch of bathing suits. I forgot about towels, we are in cat 3. It's me an DH an DD
Joyce

 

[racrj]

Does anyone know how much it is to do a load of wash and then dry? I know someone said take some quarters, but will one roll do? I am only planning on doing one or two loads during the middle of the week.
As for packing - I have laid out so far 7 sets of clothes for DD and DS. DS has just finished his potty training (YEAH!!) , but sometimes still has accidents when he is involved in something, so I have a little more underwear and shorts for him. DD will probably just need 5 or 6 outfits, plus the formal and semi formal. Now for the DH and me - who knows.... I normally pack, for a week, 7 of everything, but have never worn it all....Depending on how much I want to lug on the boat will determine how much I am taking.
My DM in lending me her Space bags, so I may be able to take everything I want.
I was worried about the laundry detergent and lugging that also, but yesterday I saw little packets that containg detergent. They are about half the size of a roll of film and can be packed easily. But they look great for traveling.
All in all I will probably pack as I normally do for a 7 day family vacation and take 1 bag for shoes, 1 bag for DS and DD, 1 bag for DH and myself and a carryon.

 

[gdulaney]

Does anyone know how much it is to do a load of wash and then dry? I know someone said take some quarters, but will one roll do? I am only planning on doing one or two loads during the middle of the week.

I think it's $ 1.00/load. Our "dryer" loads sometimes take two cycles (depending on how full we pack it).

Ginny