5/27/06 "Il pochi il fiero i blabbermouths" We *will* sail again Part 6

[justmestace]

Welcome needawdwtrip!!!

 

[ohiominnie]

Hi all
Just thought I would join you all. This will be our very first cruise and we can't wait!!!!
It will be me, DH, DD-9, DD-6. DS-4, and my DM and DF. We are joining two other families (with DD's of 8,5 and 3)
Looks like this cruise ship is going to be hopping

WELCOME!!! Glad to have you sailing with us!!!!

 

[ohiominnie]

Diana, don't think that thought hasn't crossed my mind- especially after the "maybe Dh won't get to scuba dive" thing... but it's really not an option at this point. We've been waiting for this cruise since 2003... originally booked for Feb 2005 but postponed it because the week we were going on that cruise was supposed to be a regularly scheduled winter break at our children's schools but in 2004 they changed it to a new schedule with NO days off in Feb- so we made the choice to postpone it until May 2006... so we're already almost 3yrs waiting for this cruise.

Ok, well, I think it was you who said sailing Disney was a hard sell for your dh....what about another cruise line? One that goes to Cozumel now?

Just playing devil's advocate here, not trying to be a smart alek (although I do that quite well!)

 

[ohiominnie]

(except for Jim (aka scuba diver who would much rather SIT the pot...), and sometimes break out into song on Friday mornings (DIS karaoke).

I am SOOOOO glad that will haunt him FOREVER!!!

 

[MarkRG]

We will disagree here because I do not believe the other cruises going there are risking their passengers safety to do so. And I have read that the reason DCL is not going there now is most likely because of the tender issue and other cruiselines having more clout/whatever and so if there are lots there at once, DCL is at the end of the line. That's why I said in some post -either on this thread or the one discussing this in the main cruise form- I'd rather get there late or take a long time tendering than pass it all together, but DCL doesn't give us that option... they just skip it.

Certainly one of the factors. But one of the cruisers in this group was just down there and posted a picture of the 'safe' tendering (don't have the time to find it now, lost back there someplace and I have to get back to work), where people had to almost crawl out the gangway to get onto the tender. That's certainly not safe to me. How much else of the island and excursions are back up to full strength or are cutting corners to make the $ they so desparately need right now? And I think they're protecting the passengers experience at the port of call as much as their safety. DCL learned their lesson a year ago. They went to Grand Cayman after a hurricane believing all the hype the tourism authority on that island put out then, and the cruisers had a horrible time and DCL wound up rescheduling the next number of cruises on VERY short notice, based entirely on how the conditions really were when they got there.

They will have fun in the club/lab- of that I'm sure... but yes, that was the only excursion they wanted to do, otherwise they'd rather stay in the club/lab. And they only wanted to do that because it's something very different and like my oldest loves dolphins/etc. (her nickname in Girl Scouts has been dolphin for many years)

And other islands do have similar excursions- IF they bump us to GC, they have what I would call the experience of a lifetime for a non-diver, Stingray City. Not dolphins, but just as moving in its own way. Wouldn't be surprised to hear they have some doplphin excursion there too by now, just like more and more ports now have a butterfly one.

Selling DH on anything Disney was an uphill battle. He usually always gives in to me (or says just go alone or take the kids with ya - unless I say no, this is a family trip you're coming LOL) but he was actually looking forward to this cruise once he found out he'd get to go scuba diving in Cozumel (or somewhere). I hope you're right... but something tells me if he doesn't get to scuba dive, he's not going to turn around about cruising... mostly because of the cost. He's willing to ignore the high sticker price if he gets to dive though. LOL

As I thought, very much a non Disney hubby. Lots of them out there. A few things to consider in how I think I'm right, DCL is not the 'bombard you with Disney' like the theme parks. It's a lot more than just push the characters. Hard to describe other than the ship and amenities invoke an old world elegance and style thats hard to describe, only experience really teaches here. Before that aforementioned first cruise, I was very skeptical about going cruising. And even with the glitches, there has been the effort to go on 6 more since then. That's how far I turned around on the subject.

Yes, I am figuring all costs with resort (we usually stay value btw- this will be our first trip staying anything above value the 2 days before this cruise), tickets and food -- there wasn't a dining plan at that time either. I know exactly how much we spent for that trip and for this trip not even counting any charges we don't know exactly what they'll be (for instance not counting shutters and alcohol we drink on the cruise)- it's 3 times as much. We apparently can go to WDW pretty inexpensively... atleast compared to some I guess. LOL

Interesting. Being we have DVC points for wdw trips, it's been many years since we could actually sit down and do that, so I don't have a good frame of reference. But I'd still say it's not the same, more comparing apples and oranges. You'd be more on a scale comparing to one of those all-incluve resort stays than time at WDW, if anything land based at all.

Never know... 2nd time might be bad weather and can't make it. Yes, I'm the opposite of polly positive at this point. LOL

This really isn't known as the high risk time of the year for misses, but honestly if they do, they will still serve the same lunch onboard. When they're docked at CC the Topsiders buffet is closed as they basically move all the staff and food for that day to the island.

 

[ohiominnie]

I'm sure greGg would appreciate that!!

Have you SEEN KT? She'd be able to lift about one terd per shovel!

 

[scuba.mom]

Well, I know HH did a great job helping with a laundry question, but Jim solved a shopping problem.

I took Lisa on Saturday to try and find a formal dress for Cotillion. I did not have much luck. She is just not the right proportions for what few dresses were available. Well, Jim went on line and found a store that will custom make a dress for Lisa to her measurements - YEA!!!! She wants to look like the other girls and most of the dresses we could find, were designed for a young child rather than a pre-teen. So, we measured Lisa and ordered the dress in Pink. When she and Jim go to the dance (in April), I will try and have Jim post a picture of them all dressed up in a tux and formal dress.

 

[ohiominnie]

Certainly one of the factors. But one of the cruisers in this group was just down there and posted a picture of the 'safe' tendering (don't have the time to find it now, lost back there someplace and I have to get back to work), where people had to almost crawl out the gangway to get onto the tender. That's certainly not safe to me. How much else of the island and excursions are back up to full strength or are cutting corners to make the $ they so desparately need right now? And I think they're protecting the passengers experience at the port of call as much as their safety. DCL learned their lesson a year ago. They went to Grand Cayman after a hurricane believing all the hype the tourism authority on that island put out then, and the cruisers had a horrible time and DCL wound up rescheduling the next number of cruises on VERY short notice, based entirely on how the conditions really were when they got there.

Safety is definitely an issue. Time to tender is another. Condition of the facilites is another.

Thing is, if DCL decides to go back there "too soon" there will be lots of ppl at guest services complaining....it's their version of Darned if they do, darned if they don't.

 

[ohiominnie]

Btw, with all of this talk about expectations and what is Disney's responsibility to provide...

has anyone ever READ the cruise contract they sign???

It basically says they will take you out on a ship....to somewhere....and they'll try to keep you alive.

But it doesn't even have to be a Disney ship...
It doesn't have to include any of the planned ports.....
It doesn't have to even stay out there the whole time....

YIKES!

 

[ohiominnie]

lookin' for.......

 

[ohiominnie]

a TOP????

pdfg

 

[ohiominnie]

a TOP???

pdfg


oops, DOUBLE the pdfg

 

[justmestace]

Here's my two cents...and then I'll shut up.

Shelley.....the character breakfast is not a big deal. They only had Mickey, Goofy and Chip (or was that Dale?) the last time we went.
There are Character Meet & Greets throughout the day, everyday...where the kids will see ALL of the characters that are onboard...and they also pop up in unexpected places all the time, too.

Jeff will be able to dive, no matter where we go. Remember, we're on a ship that's on a great big ocean.....which means diving everywhere!!

We're basically still a LONG WAY out from the cruise...months....nothing has to be set in stone yet. Relax....if the plans change on us, you'll still have time to get him a dive excursion. There are tons of dive operators out there.

On a personal note...yes, my family has been blessed enough to be able to cruise more than once...but I didn't know that we would be able to when we were planning our first cruise.
We hadn't taken a trip other than to Disneyland since my two younger kids were born. We waited to go to WDW and on the cruise (the 3 night Wonder) until our youngest was 8, because we wanted to be sure (as much as we could be sure) that he was going to be old enough to enjoy it and remember it, because we didn't know if we'd ever be able to do it again, or if we'd want to do it again. Both Jay and I weren't sure we'd like cruising. The sad part about waiting until Jared was 8, was that our oldest was 19 by that time and out of the house, so she didn't get to go.
I'm about as anal about planning as anyone you'll ever meet....I had index cards laminated that I took with us to WDW....telling us which ride to do first, then the next, and the next, stop here for lunch, then go here......first of all, I've never heard the end of the darn laminated cards...and second, I had a MISERABLE time! All I remember from that trip is looking at the darn cards and feeling rushed the whole time.
By the time we got on the ship, I had thrown all of my "cards" away. And it was a good thing I did....even though I had planned on doing certain things at certain times, we ended up finding other things we wanted to do...or, as was the case with one of the shows before dinner, Jared fell asleep so we didn't go.
And even though my plans totally failed....we LOVED it. Even Jay....who is like "Mikey" from the commercials "he hates everything".....LOVED it.

Which brought us to our second cruise. Not something we had planned at all...but it just worked out that way. My oldest daughter, the one who didn't get to go on the 1st cruise with us...she was marrying a guy from New York. We couldn't decide where to have her wedding. Our little town is a horrible place for a wedding. So she decided on a Disney cruise and a wedding on Castaway Cay. In SEPTEMBER. I hadn't been on these boards much (which was a really GOOD thing at the time, or else I would have totally panicked!). I didn't know that there was a good chance that we wouldn't dock at CC. I didn't know that Sept was a time when there might be hurricanes. All I knew was that this was the most important day in my daughter's life (so far) and in mine. As you can imagine...we wanted everything to be perfect. And it was, almost.
A couple of days before we sailed, Hurricane Isabel started brewing.
The day before we left for Florida, my phone rang. It was the wedding planner for DCL. My heart sunk.
As it turned out, we were going to be just barely enough ahead of the hurricane that they changed the Castaway Cay day from the last day of the cruise, to the first day of the cruise. They wanted to get their crew members off the island before Isabel hit.
Obviously, we had spa appointments set, excursions...all kinds of things that we couldn't change until we got on the ship. We weren't prepared (in our minds) for the wedding to be on the very first day. But it was. And it was perfect.
There wasn't a darn thing we could do, other than to go with the flow.

 

[Dancind]

Well, I know HH did a great job helping with a laundry question, but Jim solved a shopping problem.

I took Lisa on Saturday to try and find a formal dress for Cotillion. I did not have much luck. She is just not the right proportions for what few dresses were available. Well, Jim went on line and found a store that will custom make a dress for Lisa to her measurements - YEA!!!! She wants to look like the other girls and most of the dresses we could find, were designed for a young child rather than a pre-teen. So, we measured Lisa and ordered the dress in Pink. When she and Jim go to the dance (in April), I will try and have Jim post a picture of them all dressed up in a tux and formal dress.

And we'll get to see it on the cruise too, right? Good thinking, Jim!

 

[needawdwtrip]

Btw, with all of this talk about expectations and what is Disney's responsibility to provide...

has anyone ever READ the cruise contract they sign???

It basically says they will take you out on a ship....to somewhere....and they'll try to keep you alive.

But it doesn't even have to be a Disney ship...
It doesn't have to include any of the planned ports.....
It doesn't have to even stay out there the whole time....

YIKES!

Wow, I guess I really did sign my life away for this cruise

 

[justmestace]

Well, I know HH did a great job helping with a laundry question, but Jim solved a shopping problem.

I took Lisa on Saturday to try and find a formal dress for Cotillion. I did not have much luck. She is just not the right proportions for what few dresses were available. Well, Jim went on line and found a store that will custom make a dress for Lisa to her measurements - YEA!!!! She wants to look like the other girls and most of the dresses we could find, were designed for a young child rather than a pre-teen. So, we measured Lisa and ordered the dress in Pink. When she and Jim go to the dance (in April), I will try and have Jim post a picture of them all dressed up in a tux and formal dress.

Yea Jim!! I've done that for myself, twice. And I have a niece who is now 17...she is so tiny, she qualified for a handicap license plate. I didn't even know that was an option, simply because she is teeny weeny.
But I DO know that she would have LOVED it, if my brother had ordered her an appropriate dress for formals!

 

[chip&dale&fun]

Hi all
Just thought I would join you all. This will be our very first cruise and we can't wait!!!!
It will be me, DH, DD-9, DD-6. DS-4, and my DM and DF. We are joining two other families (with DD's of 8,5 and 3)
Looks like this cruise ship is going to be hopping

Welcome - Welcome - Welcome as well........

 

[scuba.mom]

just shaking my head here. Yes, the kids are getting really good at sharing family secrets. I think the kids WILL be eating in their clubs EVERY night!

I don't think so. I think she will be visiting us at late dinner for dessert and stories. Jim is looking forward to KT's stories. They were so entertaining on the 10-day cruise. How else would we know about "cupcake"

 

[chip&dale&fun]

And we'll get to see it on the cruise too, right? Good thinking, Jim!

My thoughts exactly, except the server would not let me post them....

 

[Dancind]

Needawdwtrip, you just joined the thread in the middle of a discussion. Don't worry, your trip will be great! And then some. Our first DCL cruise was a total surprise and pleasure. We had never cruised before, really didn't know what to expect, and we were blown away. I would say that subsequent cruises haven't measured up in some areas, because the first one is so special. Wish we could do it again!