4/29/06 Eastern Magic...We're Going!!!!!

[castlegazer]

I forgot to make the changes in my master list that we talked about the last time I posted this. Sorry.

It's a lot of work keeping up with everyone!

I was waiting for some real estate packages and burnt the time by finishing my cruise matrix spreadhsheet. Man, that was alot of work, but it totally helps to put everything down and put it next to what is going on in the clubs. I hope this helps when I have very little choices in Flounders times and Palo times.

Now that I have looked in depth at times I am super disapointed that Palo opens so late - 6pm. I kow that's not really that late, but I would have liked to have the option to eat earlier there to get it done by 7 pm and then take advantage of all the early evening family stuff that we will miss by having early seating for dinner (and also digest the food for a while too).

But, the good news is that I learned that drinks of the day are only $3.50, there is an abundance of martini, wine, beer, margarita tastings, and that the pajama party coincides with the 80s night at the bar!

 

[Belle and Rella's Dad]

We are in for the Wine Tasting, Martini Sampler and of course all the Drinks of the Day, I just got to Gaylord Michigan and it is a blizzard up here. I will check back in later tonight since I am at a hotel with nothing to do, Welcome aboard to the newbies, hang on it has been a fun ride.

Tom

 

[partypat]

CG, what is the spread sheet you are talking about?

Also, thats great news about the drink of the day. $3.50 is a lot better than $6.00/drink. I also like the idea of being able to bring our own drinks on board. Every other cruise I've taken has frowned on bringing alcohol on board with you. We had to sneak it.

So far I've booked 10 of the 14 air tickets. Only 4 to go.

PartyPat

 

[mousecrazy]

FYI...I was just checking Expedia (not sure why??) and there are two SPH cabins available for 4/29 (5022 and 5024 - adjoining).

 

[castlegazer]

I'd be tempted if I had just booked the cruise - but since I booked when the prices came out - the price of those rooms is more expensive than what I am paying for a cat 6. It is weird that thay are available.

Pat - I can't remember where exactly I got it from, meaning an exact link, but it was from some of the crazy, and I mean crazy fun - and Julie and Tom and the other repeaters know who I am talking about - former DIS'rs who had a very intimidating cruise meet web site going. They had everything planned and had made a cruise matrix - a spreadsheet of times of the day so you can input your desired activities. Update: I did find it again, but I can't link it here as its a banned site - look for 3 circles dot net (write out three and go to the link to their old web site for the repositioning cruise). Its not the exact one I am using, but its close. I am sorry I have to be eliptical on this - there is a huge issue between the DIS and these guys. Personally, I like them alot.

Basically all it is is a simple spreadsheet that runs down the time of day on the left and the days of the week at the top. Then you just go through and put everything in. I am hoping to get it up on the web so you all can see it. It was super helpful to do.

Also - and here's the payoff - it swayed my husband to firmly be in the go camp.

Yeah, I figure my drink budget just got stretched by double with the $3.50 drinks of the day!

Martini, wine, beer, and maragarita tastings all run about $12-$15 per person. Gotta budget that too.

 

[PhillyJen2006]

CG Glad to hear you are going!! WOw you are quite the planner, but if it helped talk your husband in to the cruise- Way to go!

I remember that matrix from the last cruise-I have been other to their boards, very insider if you ask me. I miss them though. They were fun on the cruise.

Patty and I have talked at length about this planning thing- and personally she thinks I am crazy for even caring what time we eat! Our kids are old enough, that a late afternoon nap will tide them over until at least 10:30(which would be an improvement over last time for all of us ) We do plan excessively for the trip itself, but once we get there......The reason we travel SOOO well together is that we are both the type of people who have a FEW things on our list of Must do's and the rest we agree to just roll with the punches. Like for instance, last year we didn't get to go to St. John. Our little ones were just a bit too young. This time, St. John is on our must do list. Paradise point another one. We tried to do too much on CC and this time, we are not planning anything. By the time Patty and I got back from our cabana massages-the day seemed like it was half over. And the CC day was by far the best day.

On all the cruises we have been on- it takes a good 5 days to "get into the swing" of things, where you feel like you are truly at peace. I know that sounds weird because it definiately was a blast every second of the trip(except when we lost Hannah on the elevator), but learning the ship, the schedules etc.... then comes that last beautiful perfect day where you just sit back and say "ahhhhhh, I could live like this forever". What sucks then is you have to power pack when you get back on the ship before dinner so you don't miss any of the evening festivities.

Gotta Run, the other bus stop moms are wondering what happend to the once together me....I have show up at the bus stop in my sweats in every day for the last 3 weeks.

Have a great day.
PJ

 

[castlegazer]

Oh don't go getting the wrong impression just because I am a spreadsheet geek. When we cruise or travel we are very laid back and have no set agendas - in fact it became a bit of a point of contention on our last trip with friends because they establish agendas and we just wanted to go where our feet took us - and one day it took us to the parade and they had not accomplished everything on their agenda for that day. We just split up, and we ended up having a blast just moseying around. I figure I do most of my planning in the very beginning, knowing the best touring methods, knowing where we would like to eat at - and then as the trip comes around it provides me with the ability to get the most out the day but not necessarily exactly what we will be doing depending on how the day turns out.

But in this case, given that I will probably have a limited amount of times to book Flounders on line and Palo, I wanted to get a feel for the flow of the days and the activities that we normally are interested in doing together and alone.

It was great - and there is a pattern - like Navigator Series stuff and demos normally take place around 10 am and 2 pm. The tastings also take place around 2 and 4pm. On Thursday night there is a lot of fun adult stuff going on and this might be a good night to plan on us being alone without the kids. Etc.

It helped my husband visualize what it would like carting Catrina around and how naps would fit into the schedules of the days. It was also helpful for him to understand that there were nights that are a little more relaxed than others - like Tuesday (other than the pirate party) and Wednesday night after being in Port.

I also am glad I did it because I always feel like I can't read those damn navigators at the time they are delivered to your room in time to figure out what the heck we really want to do the next day versus what sounds cool and overpacks our days with stuff other than just sitting and relaxing.

OK - back to real estate. Big stuff this week.

 

[BLBCB]

cruiser2two,

Welcome to a fellow Canadian. We are currently booked just down the hall from you. We are around the same age as you, but our kids are older. Someone else who will understand the 80's night at the bar eh! (had to put in the eh for a fellow Canadian!)


Castlegazer,

I am still here, just been lurking for a while now. We are still really undecided about the cruise. With the way prices are going up, I don't know if there would be another chance for us if we don't go now. Just to give everyone an update on us since I haven't posted for a long time: We did end up finding a house to rent, only had to live in a hotel for just over a week (2 teenage girls & a 10 year old brother). Now keep in mind a hotel in a small town is not some fancy place with a pool. This is peeling paint and strange smells. We had bought an old house and were moving it onto a new basement. This was suppose to happen in August, so we just brought suitcases and two mattresses and put everything else in storage. Our house didn't come until December 18th, and we still had to gut most of the walls and add an addition for the new entrance. Keep in mind my husband and I were doing all the work ourselves, along with my dad. We actually moved into it this week, and you have no idea how wonderful it is to sleep in a bed again after 4 months! You'd be amazed how excited you can be over the smallest things! The girls still have to share a room for a bit until we finish the walls in the basement, so they are sleeping in the laundry room, but at least no "annoying little brother" with them. I just can't do laundry after 9:00pm! I'm not complaining, just trying to explain where we are coming from right now. If anyone needs a holiday, I really think we do. We just went through all this last year when we moved out of northern Manitoba (up where the road ends). Even using an ugly old house and doing all the work ourselves, it's still costing us much more than we planned and I just can't see us coming up with the money. We still have over a week to figure things out. Wish us luck and pass some pixie dust our way!

 

[castlegazer]

You have my deepest understanding and sympathies - but it sounds like you have now hit the exciting part! Man, I am awed by you guys doing it all on your own. well, it definately will make your kids stronger. I know I get to hear the horror stories from my siblings about their childhood traumas all the time. I was an oops 17 years later and my parents finances were VERY different then. Back in their childhood days, they moved all the time and my Dad had a penchant for renovating houses too. He did his last one when I was born - don't think I don't hear aout that every day from my Mom.

OK - I have a stress reliever for mketting:

The Golden Eagle - SOOO MUCH FUN!!!!!!!!!!

 

[inthemood]

CASTLEGAZER>>>

Did you do the catamaran? How was it? Would you do it with a 6 and 5 yr old?

Thanks in advance

 

[castlegazer]

Yes - here is what I told mketting about it when she said she was considering it. There were kids on the excursion I was on, but they were a wee bit older, more teenish - but I was also on the Grand Princess, not on Disney when I did it so the clientelle was a bit different. We really have a great time. It was BEAUTIFUL and made us longing for more time in St. Maarten. You can sit down below or on the webbing and get wet. There is a bathroom - or head - down below decks too. It was OK to use. Small, but OK. All of these excursions leave you longing for more time - but this one gave us what we felt was a very adequate amount of time for snorkeling and beach time. I got scorched on this excursion, so keep that in mind - there is a cover on some of the below portion of the boat, but there is a lot of space to sit out in the open too and it gets a little crowded under the cover area.

The excursion is bascially a snorkeling, boating excursion. Would that be fun for your kids? - they probably won't be able to snorkel, but the beach they take you too - and I have seen trip reports where they haven't gone to a beach at all, but just dropped anchor and they may not always go to the same place all the time - is a nice play to play at - no waves, and gentle drop off to very little at all.

mketting, you are sooooo going to love the Golden Eagle Catamaran! It was super fun - but gotta tell you that it is a big party - kids were on board too and they had a ton of fun too - but its very early in the morning, they serve rum punch and beer and the men on the boat are beeeeaaaaauuuuuuuuttttiiiiful! They play reggae and its a rockin good time on the way back. My favorite Honeymoon pic is one where I am holding up a beer and turning my wrist so that you can see the time on my watch - It's 8:30 am! Oh YEAH!!!!!!

As for the actual sightseeing portion - you go to a beautiful deserted island for the snorkeling and its very good - there were also some nude sunbathers there who were on boats and did a show for us - probably happens everywhere in St. Maarten - but these guys were funny, and not quite as bad as some of the naked people you tend to see at the beaches - they were worth a looksie or two. They also take you for a cruise around half of the island. It is beautiful and a wonderful way to get out on the water.

We really had a blast as did everyone else we were on the boat with. We then got off and went up Front Street and sampled runs for free at all the shops - well, let's just say that I needed to go lay down for a while before dinner.

 

[DisneyJam]

You know, I just have to say Tom and Julie and BTJ that it used to be you guys posting the most on this thread - not me!!!!!!

Sorry I kinda dropped of the face of this thread as it has gotten rather depressing that I won't be joining everyone on this cruise.

I'm catching up a bit here so this might be long.

CG - I know what you mean... The big reason we are not going on this cruise is the price. We had at incredible time and really wish we were going, but we will be on an RCL cruise the week before this one that is quite a bit less then Disney. I would say if you haven't done it and love disney (as it seems you do) GO GO Go! The prices are only getting higher and you may not get another chance.

Glad to see you have decided to go, but all that is really important is you get quality time to spend with your family no matter where it is!!!!!!!!!

WOW I can't beleive your baby will be one already... I remember when you were still waiting to have her

PJ - Wow HGP down 10 pounds... That's impressive! Think I am up 11-15 total now

TT - Thanksgiving in Disney is a definite!! Can't wait and the kids are so excited we are going back so soon. We have to take care of our dues as well and can you beleive it right on top of the cruise payment.

Susiemva - great pics.. glad you enjoyed your trip!!! Interesting weather we are having around here huh? Snow... 60 degrees, snow, wind.

Julie - that is soo awesome. I think I need to try that with Jen some time.

 

[partypat]

CG, that was very interesting. You'll have to fill me in on the cruise as to what happened to the others. Also, thanks for the picture of the Golden Eagle. Very appealing.

I've been surfing around trying to find a transportation service to take all 14 of us from the Condos in Orlando to the Magic. Family One Transportation has a great deal, but I haven't heard anything about them. Does anyone else have any info on them or can give me the name of a company that can carry all 14 of us and our luggage. We'll probably need a trailer, yikes, theres probably going to be 28 suitcases or more. It'll have to be a big trailer. Any ideas anyone?

PartyPat

 

[suziemva]

partypat - try Happy Limo. They have various size vehicles - even one for 21 adults! They were the company we used last week and using again this week. LOVE THEM!!! Trying to get rates for our cruise trip - a bit different because of our park resort stays, etc.

www.happylimo.com

 

[castlegazer]

FL Tours is the board sponsor - try them too - but Suzie's experience last week was very appealing.

 

[castlegazer]

Pat - I actually don't think we are being watched too heavily here (big brother stuff and all because Suzie got away with linking that site) so I will tell you that there are many people who get fed up with the moderators and the administration of the DIS and leave or get banned for really silly stuff and they go and meet up elsewhere. There are at least three other forums based on DIS bashing out there that I know of and I am very NOT in the know on these matters.

My very close friend here on the DIS is a travel agent - I could get banned just for telling you her screen name. It's a bit Machiavellian.

Some mods are good, some are a bit over zealous. I try and fly somewhat under the radar - but lately I have been having a bit of a problem with one mod. Overall, this is the largest community for Disney information so therefore it's a great place to be - do I bow down on the DIS board steps - no. But I do love coming here as a respite from my day and to get wonderful information and put myself into the vacation mindset at the drop of a hat.

 

[castlegazer]

Here is a review of the Golden Eagle Catamaran on a day when they couldn't go to the deserted island (taken from portreviews.com):

Joanne and John Bowers

The first sight of this island early in the morning as the ship slowly approached it was breathtaking. I wished we had more time there; it looked beautiful. We went on a ½ day barefoot sailing excursion, booked through Princess, on an 80-foot catamaran called the Golden Eagle. We were supposed to sail to an uninhabited island called Tintamare, but due to wind and high seas we sailed instead to a beach owned by a resort.

In the brochure, it looked like the catamaran anchored in shallow water. Perhaps it does on Tintamare. On our trip, however, the Golden Eagle anchored about 500 feet off shore in 12 feet of water. We were told to swim to the beach. Right! Noodle floats and snorkeling vests weren’t secure enough for me. A crewmember took non-swimmers to shore in a motorized dinghy. That was a good decision because there was a nasty undertow near the beach. John and a few others either stumbled or crawled onto shore gasping for breath. Hint: Don’t take any chances. If you’re not a strong swimmer, ride in the dinghy.

After an hour, we returned to the catamaran. Some who had trouble swimming to shore rode back in the dinghy with us non-swimmers. The crew played calypso music and served (generously) sandwiches, chips, rum punch, champagne, beer and soda. We had a fun time, the swim to shore notwithstanding, and highly recommend this excursion.

We changed on the ship, then took a water taxi into town. The water taxi cost $5 per person round trip and operates continuously. We ate delicious jerk chicken at the Barefoot Terrace, then went shopping. Most of the stores sold jewelry. Other shops sold spices, sauces, rum cakes, souvenirs and liquor. A café called Saviers de France on Old Street sold light groceries, pastries and cookies. We purchased a cup of French roast there. It tasted heavenly compared to the coffee served on the ship

and here's a review when they did go to the beach:

Wes Carter In St. Maarten we took a Catamaran ride to a deserted island, on the Golden Eagle ($69pp). Nice, invigorating sail to and from the island, with all the beverages you could consume (this was an older crowd, so not too many took advantage of this), and a nice 1-1/2 hour stay on a pristine beach, with just us (small boatload of people), and another small group later on. Crystal clear, warm, water, pure white sand, and, oh, yes, more liquid refreshments. Also, you were entitled, if you dared, to get a mud bath done with the assistance of the crew.

Let me just interrupt this right here and say that if this was offered on our trip I would have beeeeeen SSOOOOOOOOOO all over this - Have I mentioned how beautiful the crew was!
Ok - back to the regularly scheduled review:

The sail back to the dock included sandwiches, all you could drink champagne, as well as other drinks. It sounds like a lot of liquid was consumed, but the operator made money on this excursion - most of the booze stayed in the bottles, and they didn’t get carpal syndrome, by opening too many beers. This was one of the best excursions yet, and we will do the exact same thing next time. The Golden Eagle staff did everything right and enhanced this pleasurable trip.

 

[castlegazer]

Suzie, when do you leave again? This is the GF trip right? with Friends?

You all are getting close to being able to book on-line - just 64 more hours!!!!!!! (I think I did that right)

 

[castlegazer]

BTJ - I didn't mean to ignore you. I can totally understand how depressing it would be to check in with everyone here.

Just think, though, - you can live your dreams out in reality by climbing rock walls and ice skating like a star!!!!! Meanwhile we will all be getting fat by eating too many of these - See, its a good thing!

 

[PhillyJen2006]

Hi CG- I am going to bow to you ...the queen of spreadsheets and ask for your help! I am going to make Palo ressies on Saturday morning and I was thinking Thursday night- what do you think based on the matrix?

PJ