5/22/2008 Wonder Cruise!

[EPCOT_VA]

I know, Matthew, no worries. Thanks for sharing your pics, I love:

PIC_038.jpg
PIC_068.jpg
PIC_118.jpg
PIC_162.jpg


And many more, what kind of camera do you have or is it the photographer?

I used different cameras for different pictures.

PIC_038 - (Sony DSC-W170 10.1 MP Camera)
PIC_068 - (Sony DSC-W170 10.1 MP Camera)
PIC_118 - (Canon Digital Rebel Xti w/10-22mm Ultra-Wide Angle Lens)
PIC_162 - (Sony HDR-UX7 Handycam)

The DSC-W170 is brand new. I just got it a couple weeks before the cruise. It has excellent low light capabilities. I used it for the shows. The Canon is my camera of choice when I don't mind lugging around all of the lenses. The Handycam video camera can take still photos even while taping. That is why the aspect ratio is kind of "widescreen". That is my favorite shot of the whole trip. I took 1033 pictures total. That includes our day at WDW.

EPCOT_VA
(Matthew)

 

[TiggerzFan]

On this one, you can see my DD, myself and part, well two parts of my DW

 

[TiggerzFan]

While we LOVED our cruise, and any DCL cruise is a good cruise, did anyone else, especially veteran cruisers, feel like that was just WAY too short and WAY too rushed and exhausting? I felt like we were always rushing to get somewhere or to get something done. There was no sea day to just hang out and enjoy the ship and activities.

Of course we realized it was "just a 3 nighter" when we booked, but even DH says he's exhausted and needs a vacation now!

 

[plc001]

WAY too rushed and exhausting

This was our first cruise ever, we where eating breakfast at 8am and back in bed at 11pm exhausted. My DD wanted nothing to do with the teens activities, since we were so tired. My DS spend maybe 1/2 in the club, but had to pull him out for the shows. Granted, we could had drop the kids of and go our way, but it was a family vacation. Maybe next time, we can split.

No pool time, no other extra activities. Did not even get a chance to order room service!!!

So much for all the tips that I studied here. Next time, we will skip some excursions to be able to do other things in the ship.

We still had the best time ever

 

[kaykels]

WE can safely say, we are crossing a 3 night off of our list. Been there, done that, I'm staying on LONGER next time. It was exhausting. I knew what we were in for. And it sure beat the heck out of walking the parks. But we need more time to unwind. Just think, if it was a 7 nighter, we would have just got off yesterday.
Plenty of time to enjoy the ship on the 7 nighter. Harder to lose the weight though! But I'm willing to sacrafice a pant size.

WHEN IS THE NEXT ONE???

 

[Disney Sweetie]

I thought it was VERY short and I knew this before I ever booked. Next time we will be doing a longer cruise. I felt as tho we were always running to get somewhere also. No time to just enjoy the ship.

I did order some iced tea from room service after we got back from Castaway Cay because we were so hot and thirsty. It was so good and COLD!!!

Pam

 

[Disney Sweetie]

WE can safely say, we are crossing a 3 night off of our list. Been there, done that, I'm staying on LONGER next time. It was exhausting. I knew what we were in for. And it sure beat the heck out of walking the parks. But we need more time to unwind. Just think, if it was a 7 nighter, we would have just got off yesterday.
Plenty of time to enjoy the ship on the 7 nighter. Harder to lose the weight though! But I'm willing to sacrafice a pant size.

WHEN IS THE NEXT ONE???

Rachel and Donna....pick a date and I am there!!!! I wish we could have spent more time together rather than just passing in the halls as we ran to the next event!!!

 

[TiggerzFan]

Rachel and Donna....pick a date and I am there!!!! I wish we could have spent more time together rather than just passing in the halls as we ran to the next event!!!

Well our little family rebooked for the St. Croix/St. Thomas Cruise on 11-7-09 and got a secret porthole room. And for that alone I was excited! Not sure the likelihood of that date sticking, but worth a shot. The week after that is a double dip (!) but it was a few hundred more. Need to coordinate with Rachel's crew.


You should have heard the conversations onboard between us and CoffeeGuy/Girl.... we were all set to stay onboard for a back-to-back 4-nighter - which would have given us a TRIPLE DIP!!! (Translation - 3 stops at Castaway). We were tempted and CoffeeGuy kept us posted of availability. Tempting, tempting.

One nice (but very small) bonus was there was NO waiting to talk to Leslie (Rebooking Desk)! On our last Magic cruise, lines were deep to see her. Glad to see she switched over - she's soooo sweet and really helpful.

I am most definitely planning on sneaking in another FL resident rate cruise, if any 4 or 7 nights come out.

 

[EPCOT_VA]

Well our little family rebooked for the St. Croix/St. Thomas Cruise on 11-7-09 and got a secret porthole room. And for that alone I was excited! Not sure the likelihood of that date sticking, but worth a shot. The week after that is a double dip (!) but it was a few hundred more. Need to coordinate with Rachel's crew.


You should have heard the conversations onboard between us and CoffeeGuy/Girl.... we were all set to stay onboard for a back-to-back 4-nighter - which would have given us a TRIPLE DIP!!! (Translation - 3 stops at Castaway). We were tempted and CoffeeGuy kept us posted of availability. Tempting, tempting.

One nice (but very small) bonus was there was NO waiting to talk to Leslie (Rebooking Desk)! On our last Magic cruise, lines were deep to see her. Glad to see she switched over - she's soooo sweet and really helpful.

I am most definitely planning on sneaking in another FL resident rate cruise, if any 4 or 7 nights come out.

We rebooked with Leslie on the last night. We meant to rebook onboard before we even got on the ship. I just never got time to go see her before the last night. She was quite busy then. We booked a 7 night St. Thomas for only $700 more that this 3 night cruise was! We sail again 10/24/2009.

As for the length of this cruise...

We knew it would be short. However, it felt longer than I expected. This time we knew the ship, knew where to go and when. I think we pretty much hit everything that we had planned. I got some hot tub time, found the gym, the kids got enough pool and beach time, parasailing, took 1033 pictures, kept our cabin a bit more organized than last time, and everyone had plenty of fun. All in all a fantastic vacation.

The perfect trip always leaves you wanting a bit more. It gives you something to look forward to next time.

EPCOT_VA

 

[swissgirl66]

Hallo to all of you sweet ones

It was so wonderful meeting you all (or most of you, sorry, a few we never had the chance to meet).

We had a great time on the cruise but as mentioned before, it was much too short, next time we will be on a longer one, thats for sure, but we might not be able to do this too soon again, it is a looooooong way for us, after all.

Hey, did I mention, on the first day, we arrived there at sharp 10am and I was the first in line for check-in for first timers, I was soooo proud, we got boarding tickets Nr. 2 and were on the ship at noon.

After the cruise we spent some days at Disney Vero Beach resort, nice, quite place, very relaxed and had a great time there - but no internet access.

And now we spend the last 2 days of our awesome trip in Fort Lauderdale, and then on Sunday, we fly home. After all this time, we are looking forward to see family and friends again, Alena is missing them desperately but she still has a great time just being in the pool for hours.

Talk to you soon again, I was thinking about getting all the e-mails together, to stay in contact more easiely. For all those interested aswell, just drop me am pm with your full name, address and e-mail and I will put it into a excel and send back to all of you.

Have a great time and talk to you soon again

Knuddel Andrea, Urs und Alena

 

[Disney Sweetie]

It was so good to meet you and your wonderful family. I do hope that we can stay in touch. I have friends from a previous Disney cruise that live in England and we send emails, Christmas cards. I will be seeing them again in September on our next cruise!! So who knows, we may see each other along the way again soon also.

Hugs and Kisses!!

Pam

 

[TiggerzFan]

Post-cruise meet at Andrea's house!

Andrea - I guess you're not going to see the shuttle launch tomorrow? Hope you have smooth travels getting home. You've had quite the whirlwind vacation and no doubt you'll be happy to see your home. Really great meeting you and your family. Hopefully Alena had a great cruise and maybe, just maybe, we'll be cruising together again sometime.

Knuddel,

 

[TiggerzFan]

Hey all -

Just reporting in.... we drove within a few miles of the space center today (not enough time to go all the way) and saw the space shuttle launch from a distance. Always a very cool and awesome sight, especially this one which included Buzz Lightyear ( a 12" version of him) onboard! Finally, he can go to Infinity and Beyond! How cool is that?

 

[EPCOT_VA]

Who wants to see video!

I just posted the raw video of our Parasailing Adventure at Castaway Cay.

I went up with DD 8 Sarah. My wife went up with DD 10 Megan.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V9-I-v-OVrw

It was such a blast.

As you can see from my signature line, I've signed on to another thread already for our next cruise.

EPCOT_VA

 

[TiggerzFan]

Your next cruise looks like it's going to be SO much fun.... I've seen that link before and the organization is incredible - door signs, meets, t-shirt designs, etc. But, we'd expect no less on a cruise with Verandah Man! Have fun with B.O.B!

 

[Disney Sweetie]

Hey everyone!! Just checking in. I finally got my last suitcase unpacked over the weekend. It was the one with all the FE gifts and extra stuff. I didnt really get a chance to look at everything that we got in our FE until I unpacked it. The kids were always getting it all out to see what we got. I want to thank each and every one of you for the thoughtful gifts and effort put into them. It was such fun and I hope that we will get to sail together again soon!!!

Andrea I hope that you all made it home safely and are getting to rest up from your month long adventures in Florida.

Talk to you all soon!!

Pam

 

[TiggerzFan]

Hi Pam!

Glad to hear you're down to the last suitcase. I think DH still has his stuffed in his closet!!

And yes, unpacking all the FE gifts was super fun! I'm enjoying breaking into the Hershey bars one by one.

Stay in touch..... I've got that great group shot of your family on Deck 10. I'll forward it to you soon!

Donna

 

[TiggerzFan]

Did everyone hear? DCL will accept 50% of the usual deposit on all new bookings made through mid June on sailings from this September though Dec 09. DARN... couldn't they announced that while we were onboard? I could've easily convinced DH to book TWO cruises!

Details are on the DCL website.

 

[Disney Sweetie]

Did everyone hear? DCL will accept 50% of the usual deposit on all new bookings made through mid June on sailings from this September though Dec 09. DARN... couldn't they announced that while we were onboard? I could've easily convinced DH to book TWO cruises!

Details are on the DCL website.

Saw that yesterday!! Told Leissa about it and she gave me the money for her deposit! We may try to plan a Sept. 09 cruise.....looking at 9-26-09. Will let you know if we book.

Hope everyone is doing great!

Pam

 

[Disney Sweetie]

We booked the 9-26-09 sailing.....anyone else going on that one?

Donna and Rachel, I have been looking thru all our digital pictures and could not find the one of your families. I knew I took one with my camera also. Well, I finally got some of the pictures back that I took with my 35mm and there you were. You have a great loooking group!!

Cant believe 2 weeks ago we were meeting at the sail away party! Time just goes by to fast.

Talk to you all soon.....I hope!

Pam