4/27/13 Western Fantasy

[Keurigirl]

Welcome Kelbelle123 & idreamofdisneyworld!! Glad to have you! Please make sure you sign up for the FE exchange if you'd like to participate - today is the last day to sign up.

 

[idreamofdisneyworld]

where is the sign up i really want to do this!

 

[Lollipop's Mom]

Go back a page. It's all there.

 

[mollyclairesmom]

Christy257, I'm working on FE gifts and just wanted to make sure to include the right one for your family... is your Cameron a boy or girl?

 

[Floridagram]

It seems kind of early to me, but it sure makes the cruise so much more of a reality. I have been making arrangements for our next vacation to Hawaii so that has been my focus and excitement. Time to change gears again!

 

[Henlady]

It seems kind of early to me, but it sure makes the cruise so much more of a reality. I have been making arrangements for our next vacation to Hawaii so that has been my focus and excitement. Time to change gears again!

YEAH for you. We can all start looking for those little booklets now. Would you believe I am all packed already?!?!

 

[Christy257]

Hello everyone! My Cameron is definitely all boy looking forward to seeing everyone soon. Countdown has begun in my house!

 

[mollyclairesmom]

Hello everyone! My Cameron is definitely all boy looking forward to seeing everyone soon. Countdown has begun in my house!

That was my guess, but just wanted to make sure

We're counting down too!

 

[redgrapes2]

Hi everyone! Just found this group. A bit overwhelmed with planning for our first ever cruise! I added our info to the Google Docs sheet... really looking forward to this trip!

 

[Henlady]

Got our Docs today!
LOVE getting Docs in the mail.

 

[teknofauz]

Hi!!!!

I just now found this group!!! This is our first Disney cruise, but have cruised a lot with Celebrity & Royal Caribbean. We are Joe & Nancy from Maryland and will be going with our daughter, son-in-law and granddaughter who is 4. I would appreciate any tips that anyone can give that will make this cruise even more exciting for our 4 year old grauddaughter.

Thanks!
Nancy

 

[Floridagram]

Hi!!!!

I just now found this group!!! This is our first Disney cruise, but have cruised a lot with Celebrity & Royal Caribbean. We are Joe & Nancy from Maryland and will be going with our daughter, son-in-law and granddaughter who is 4. I would appreciate any tips that anyone can give that will make this cruise even more exciting for our 4 year old grauddaughter.

Thanks!
Nancy

Welcome! We are having a meet at 3PM on the first day, I hope you can come. I am a grandma too and would love to talk to you about Celebrity if our paths cross. I have a 4 year old granddaughter also, McKenna, and we went last year. She LOVED the kids club,even though she was only 3.

Oh yeah, are from eastern or western MD? I was born in Western MD but only lived there 6 weeks!

Everything about the cruise will be special. There are character greets many times during the day. The pools are usually ungodly crowded but there is a Nemo's Reef water play area that is fun for the little ones and an Aqua Lab water play area. It was not too crowded last year.

Disney is so geared towards the kids I know you will have a blast. You will find plenty to do to keep her busy and happy!

 

[teknofauz]

Welcome! We are having a meet at 3PM on the first day, I hope you can come. I am a grandma too and would love to talk to you about Celebrity if our paths cross. I have a 4 year old granddaughter also, McKenna, and we went last year. She LOVED the kids club,even though she was only 3.

Oh yeah, are from eastern or western MD? I was born in Western MD but only lived there 6 weeks!

Everything about the cruise will be special. There are character greets many times during the day. The pools are usually ungodly crowded but there is a Nemo's Reef water play area that is fun for the little ones and an Aqua Lab water play area. It was not too crowded last year.

Disney is so geared towards the kids I know you will have a blast. You will find plenty to do to keep her busy and happy!

Thanks for your reply. We'll have to try and meet up with you. You mentioned the meeting time of 3:00 pm - is that the day that the ship leaves port? Where is the meeting place? What is your name so I can find you? Would love to talk to you about Celebrity - we recently were on the Eclipse on a southern Caribbean cruise and loved it.

We live about 20 miles north of Baltimore. We've lived here about 12 years. My husband is retired military so we have lived in many places. Where in FL do you live?

We are really excited about this upcoming Disney cruise!!!!

Nancy

 

[Floridagram]

Thanks for your reply. We'll have to try and meet up with you. You mentioned the meeting time of 3:00 pm - is that the day that the ship leaves port? Where is the meeting place? What is your name so I can find you? Would love to talk to you about Celebrity - we recently were on the Eclipse on a southern Caribbean cruise and loved it.

We live about 20 miles north of Baltimore. We've lived here about 12 years. My husband is retired military so we have lived in many places. Where in FL do you live?

We are really excited about this upcoming Disney cruise!!!!

Nancy

My name is Vicki and we live about 45 minutes from Disney World. This is were we are from, my husband is retired military also. We never expected to come back here but my kids ended up settling here so we moved back after 28 years of being gone

The meet is in the D Lounge on deck 4 midship. I hope to see you there! I hope I can make it, last cruise I was not able to. I went to one on CCL though and it is nice to meet people and then you recognize them as you see them on the cruise.

 

[teknofauz]

My name is Vicki and we live about 45 minutes from Disney World. This is were we are from, my husband is retired military also. We never expected to come back here but my kids ended up settling here so we moved back after 28 years of being gone

The meet is in the D Lounge on deck 4 midship. I hope to see you there! I hope I can make it, last cruise I was not able to. I went to one on CCL though and it is nice to meet people and then you recognize them as you see them on the cruise.

Vicki -
Since you live 45 minutes from Disney - you may live close to my sister - she lives in Groveland which is right next to Clermont.

Thanks for the info on the meeting - hope to be able to meet you there!

Nancy

 

[Floridagram]

Vicki -
Since you live 45 minutes from Disney - you may live close to my sister - she lives in Groveland which is right next to Clermont.

Thanks for the info on the meeting - hope to be able to meet you there!

Nancy

I actually live south of Groveland, in Lakeland. We are just off of interstate 4 between Tampa and Orlando, actually a bit closer to Tampa.

I think someone else from our group is from Clermont.

It is hard to believe that 5 weeks from now we will be cruising!

 

[jcjen519]

I posted about this on our facebook page but didn't get much of a response. We have a family cabana booked for the cruise. It will be myself, sister in law (husband won't be able to make it) and my 3.5 year old son. If anyone is interested in joining us and splitting the cost let me know

 

[GatorWayne]

Hello Everyone!

I’ve been watching this cruise for awhile hoping Disney would throw some military rates on it while hoping they didn’t fill up VGT or OGT cabins. Well no military rate but we did manage to grab the last VGT at least for now.
I’m Wayne and my wife is Trisha. We’re being joined by my mother-in-law Kitty. We’re in our mid 40s and this is our 2nd time on the Fantasy. We were on the Nov 10th sailing last year.

When we cruise, we make no plans on the ship except for shows and dinner so I don’t think we will make any events the group might have planned. We live 20 minutes from Port Canaveral so I thought I would pop in here and offer up what we have planned for excursions and try to answer any questions about the port. I frequently drive by it on my way to Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

We just did this itinerary in November. Here is what I hope we do:

Grand Cayman: Been here twice now and never really left the port area after shopping. Had plans to go to cemetery beach for snorkeling on our first trip but they fell apart. Considering some sort of stingray, snorkel, beach trip. My wife does not snorkel and does not want anything to do with stingrays. Not sure about MIL but she does like to snorkel. Still researching this port.

Costa Maya: Going to my favorite place in the world, well at least on a cruise it is. Tropicante, http://www.sandalsandskis.com/Tropicante.html, is owned by an American named Steve. Super easy to get to from the port ($2 taxi per person each way), great drinks, food, and my wife said one of the best massages she has ever had and she goes to a high end spa here in town. Free chairs and umbrellas as long as you eat and drink. Steve has teamed with others in town to offer. Here is a video he made. https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=e60EUS4Q7ng. I love this place. Get a chair down by the water, order a bucket of beer, enjoy the sun and tropical breeze, and forget any concerns you may have. If you are interested I recommend you email Steve and make reservations. No deposit required. http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaura...ll-Mahahual_Costa_Maya_Yucatan_Peninsula.html

Cozumel: If Costa Maya is my favorite place in the world, the Taste of Mexican Cuisine Workshop and Tasting, http://disneycruise.disney.go.com/c...l-mexico/mexican-cuisine-workshop-and-tasting is my favorite excursion. Bus ride up the highway to Playa Mia where you go into the pink building and learn to cook a Mexican meal with a chef named Louis who is very funny and entertaining. After the meal is prepared, you turn it in because it requires some time in the oven, head upstairs, find a table to sit at, and your food is served. After you eat you have a few hours at the all inclusive beach to enjoy the amenities. It is open bar the whole time and the drinks are tasty! We have done this twice and it was fantastic! We book this one through the ship as I’m not sure about the timing of the class otherwise. This is tripadvisor for all of Playa Mia without separate reviews just for the excursion. You will find many reviews on the cooking excursion in the reviews. http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attracti...h_Park-Cozumel_Yucatan_Peninsula.html#REVIEWS

Castaway Cay: I plan on running the 5K and then meeting the ladies on Serenity Bay for hopefully some sun, swimming, drinks, food, and quiet beach time. Last time we were here we had two women in the chairs next to us who would not shut up! A 15 minute discussion about taking a banana through customs. We’ll probably get some floating mats and float, swim, make out way out to the sandbar if the tide is right. I have not read much about this but about 150 yards offshore from serenity bay is / was a sandbar. My wife got on a float and I took us out there. It was cool but it really is just a sandbar.

 

[Floridagram]

JHi Gator Wayne,

I am sorry we will not get to meet you. My husband would enjoy meeting you. He is retired AF and his only planned activities also are a few cool ones and laying in the sun. You may find him on deck 13. He will be the one with the extraordinarily dark tan and a shaved head and he will be there all the time on sea days.

We go to the family beach since we are sailing with family, funny thing about that. I am not sure if you have sailed this time of year or not but last year when we were at CC the whole serenity bay area was a sandbar. The water was only up to our calves.

Thanks for the info. I did not know anything to do at Costa Maya. We usually like to snorkel and just go to the beach since we have seen the ports so many times and seen all the souvenirs the Caribbean has to offer. If you get a chance stop by our meet for a few minutes on the first day at the D Lounge. It doesn't have to take long. in fact it can't take too long because we will get called to the muster stations! Glad you got a good rate, we booked early because we need connecting cabins, so that hurt! Last year we got OV GTY and snagged 3 verandahs in the back of the ship, it was nice.

 

[GatorWayne]

JHi Gator Wayne,

I am sorry we will not get to meet you. My husband would enjoy meeting you. He is retired AF and his only planned activities also are a few cool ones and laying in the sun. You may find him on deck 13. He will be the one with the extraordinarily dark tan and a shaved head and he will be there all the time on sea days.

We go to the family beach since we are sailing with family, funny thing about that. I am not sure if you have sailed this time of year or not but last year when we were at CC the whole serenity bay area was a sandbar. The water was only up to our calves.

Thanks for the info. I did not know anything to do at Costa Maya. We usually like to snorkel and just go to the beach since we have seen the ports so many times and seen all the souvenirs the Caribbean has to offer. If you get a chance stop by our meet for a few minutes on the first day at the D Lounge. It doesn't have to take long. in fact it can't take too long because we will get called to the muster stations! Glad you got a good rate, we booked early because we need connecting cabins, so that hurt! Last year we got OV GTY and snagged 3 verandahs in the back of the ship, it was nice.

I’ll ask the ladies what they want to do about the meet and greet. My wife and I have different philosophies about meet and greets. She interfaces with many different people throughout her company with has international operations and I spend my days locked in a control tower 100 feet in the sky with the same 3-5 people every day.

I am also retired active duty AF. Went home on a Friday in uniform, came back on Monday in blue jeans and a polo, my new civilian uniform doing the same job. Made the transition super easy. I’m sure I’ll see your husband up there as we spend quite a bit of time in the adult areas. Our kids are young adults out on their own and we are at least nine months from being grandparents. What is his name?

We are also going to be dressed up for pirate night! We had a great time last cruise dressing up. Probably not as fun this time as my MIL is sharing our cabin.

When we were at castaway cay the sandbar was definitely small and while I could walk most of the way out to it, some parts were definitely deeper than 6 feet.

We love Tropicante! I absolutely love sitting on their beach and looking out at the water. I don’t know what it is about their beach but I love it. Trisha was very pleased with her massage. $25 for an hour massage on the beach, shaded by trees. I doubt we would be on this cruise if it didn’t stop in Costa Maya.