7-Night Western Caribbean Cruise July 25 - August 1, 2009

[Hillaryone]

We just learned about this site and jave find it very interesting and informative. This is our second cruise for myself, DH and DD- 10 but first time for DS -6. Is anyone on the cruise with children around their ages. It would be great to have them meet early to get over the concern they are having about not having friends. We don't have a stateroom yet because we recently upgraded. We are from Illinois. Looking forward to meeting everyone.

Welcome!
My DD9 is not shy! She loves ballet, horseback riding, swimming, snorkeling, and basically having fun. She is a very girly-girl; not at all a tomboy. We are going to take her to the oceaneer lab on the first day to meet the staff.
DD = http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lslgSXNYbVA
Let me know if you think our girls have anything in common.

 

[Kwalters]

Welcome!
My DD9 is not shy! She loves ballet, horseback riding, swimming, snorkeling, and basically having fun. She is a very girly-girl; not at all a tomboy. We are going to take her to the oceaneer lab on the first day to meet the staff.
DD = http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lslgSXNYbVA
Let me know if you think our girls have anything in common.

Erica's video was wonderful! You have a very talented little girl!!
My DD (7) is on a competetive cheer and hip hop team, so they will have dance in common.

 

[Im_A_Princess]

We just learned about this site and jave find it very interesting and informative. This is our second cruise for myself, DH and DD- 10 but first time for DS -6. Is anyone on the cruise with children around their ages. It would be great to have them meet early to get over the concern they are having about not having friends. We don't have a stateroom yet because we recently upgraded. We are from Illinois. Looking forward to meeting everyone.

Welcome Aboard!

We are sailing without our children this time.
I have a daughter who is 9 who just LOVES the clubs. It is a fight to get her to leave and have some meals with us!
My 13 year old started going to the Disney Clubs when she was 10 and loves them as well.
I am sure there are others here with children your daughters ages.
Have a great time!!!

 

[phmce]

Thanks for the video -- she is talented. Whew -- they have things in common-- our DD was in dance for several years and for the past 3 years has been on a competitive syncronized ice skating team. She recently became a cheerleader (new experience) and also loves having fun. She is happy!!!

 

[Hillaryone]

Erica's video was wonderful! You have a very talented little girl!!
My DD (7) is on a competetive cheer and hip hop team, so they will have dance in common.

Thanks! I think cheer and hip-hop look fun, but DD prefers ballet. Dance is a great activity for children.
It sounds as if all our DDs will make MANY friends!

 

[wideeyedwonder]

We just learned about this site and jave find it very interesting and informative. This is our second cruise for myself, DH and DD- 10 but first time for DS -6. Is anyone on the cruise with children around their ages. It would be great to have them meet early to get over the concern they are having about not having friends. We don't have a stateroom yet because we recently upgraded. We are from Illinois. Looking forward to meeting everyone.

I have a 10 year old daughter, and this will be her second Disney cruise. Let me know if you want her to email your daughter, they can talk some cruise stuff to get your DD (and DS) more comfortable about everything...and give my DD a companion to look forward to!

(We also have twin DD(7)s)

 

[wideeyedwonder]

I'm frantic about all the things to pack. (add zip tie with FE!)
For the former cruises... anything you couldn't live without?

Single $$$ bills (or coins) to tip room service...and make sure you use room service at least once, even just for snacks!

Yellow highlighter, to highlight shipboard activities on your personal navigator.

Pack stuff you will need for first hours on the ship (including passports and signed documents) in backpacks, so you will have stuff you need while your luggage is being delivered to you room.

 

[wideeyedwonder]

For those wondering what "tipping" is like on the 7-night, this is the latest information I have found (please correct me if I am wrong):

Restaurant Server: $25.75
Restaurant Assistant Server: $18.75
Head Server: $6.50
Stateroom Host(ess): $25.25

For room service:

"If we are just ordering 1-2 mickey bars and nothing else (DS often leaves dinner early and goes back to the room for some peace and quiet and a Mickey Bar dessert) then we tip $1. For anything more we tip 2-4 depending on what all there is (full meals for all $4, a grilled cheese and drink $2, etc.).
We also keep an envelope full of small bills in the room for this purpose (somewhere where we all know to get it so any of us can tip room service whenever we want something)."

"For room service, you would want to tip each time they bring something as you might have someone different delivering food at different times and you might order more or less at different times. If DH and I just order some milk and cookies, we tip $2. If we order sandwiches, drinks, and a piece of cake, we'll tip more. We keep a stack of $1 bills in safe and just pull some out when we order room service to have it waiting for when they get there."

For Palo:

"If you go to Palo, you'll be given a slip to sign at the end with the per person charge for dining at Palo. There's a line there where you can add a tip for your Palo server. So it's easy to do that when you actually dine there. There's a lot of debate as to what's a good amount to tip your Palo server. DH and I usually leave between $20-$30 in addition to the Palo fee depending on how the service was."

 

[wideeyedwonder]

We will be flying in from California the evening before the cruise, and staying at the Hyatt at the airport. The next morning, we will be taking Disney transportation to the ship. Is any one else staying at the Hyatt the night before?

 

[Hillaryone]

We will be flying in from California the evening before the cruise, and staying at the Hyatt at the airport. The next morning, we will be taking Disney transportation to the ship. Is any one else staying at the Hyatt the night before?

Yes. Us!

 

[Princess Runner]

We just learned about this site and jave find it very interesting and informative. This is our second cruise for myself, DH and DD- 10 but first time for DS -6. Is anyone on the cruise with children around their ages. It would be great to have them meet early to get over the concern they are having about not having friends. We don't have a stateroom yet because we recently upgraded. We are from Illinois. Looking forward to meeting everyone.

Welcome! my DD is turning 5 on July 30, my DH birthday is on July 26 (this is their birthday cruise) looking forward to meet you, my DS is 16. Most likely some of the most experience people is putting together a meet so we can all get together, so be looking for the information. Blessings

 

[ljseay]

I have counted at least two other teachers in the group. I wonder if Disney would let us get together and film a virtual field trip in the engine room for our classes?

 

[ljseay]

My 12 year old daughter, Bethie, would really like to meet some new friends on this trip. She's a little shy, and worried about meeting new people. If anyone has a DD who would like to trade a few e-mail with Bethie to get to know each other before the cruise, PM me and I'll get you her e-mail address.

Can you believe it's almost here?

And am I mistaken, or are almost all of us going to be at the Palo brunch? They really have no idea what's about to hit them, do they?

Lisa

 

[Princess Runner]

Imagine how exited I got when I received the FE on the masil today, I opened and found that a mistake has been made, a big one too! I had requested facial features for my DD that are very specific to her and by mistake they put it on my DH, he looks funny but I know he won't be happy, I just e-mailed gradysmommy to see if I can overnight it and she'll correct the error, I feel terrible, I double check my e-mails and the mistake is not on my side. I know this is not something horrible and worst can happen, but I really wanted this to be a very big surprise for them, please people pray that she'll check her e-mail and answers back!!!!!!!

 

[moet7]

Imagine how exited I got when I received the FE on the masil today, I opened and found that a mistake has been made, a big one too! I had requested facial features for my DD that are very specific to her and by mistake they put it on my DH, he looks funny but I know he won't be happy, I just e-mailed gradysmommy to see if I can overnight it and she'll correct the error, I feel terrible, I double check my e-mails and the mistake is not on my side. I know this is not something horrible and worst can happen, but I really wanted this to be a very big surprise for them, please people pray that she'll check her e-mail and answers back!!!!!!!

Hi
So sorry to hear about your FE. I know from the messages I got from gradsmommy that she was leaving again on the 15 of july. Even if you overnighted it to her today, she might not have time to fix it and get it mailed back to you before she leaves again. Do you think you would be able to remove the pocket that was meant for your daughter and change it around? or perhaps take it to a person who does alternations?? I would "think" that gradsmommy should/would reimburse you for this cost since it was her fault that it was made incorrecly.....hang in there and don't let this take any of the magic away from your trip.......hope it works out for you!

 

[Princess Runner]

Hi
So sorry to hear about your FE. I know from the messages I got from gradsmommy that she was leaving again on the 15 of july. Even if you overnighted it to her today, she might not have time to fix it and get it mailed back to you before she leaves again. Do you think you would be able to remove the pocket that was meant for your daughter and change it around? or perhaps take it to a person who does alternations?? I would "think" that gradsmommy should/would reimburse you for this cost since it was her fault that it was made incorrecly.....hang in there and don't let this take any of the magic away from your trip.......hope it works out for you!

I see what you are saying, is just that I spent so much time being very specific about what I wanted...I am just very sad, for some reason I have the feeling that she works with an asistant or something in any case my FE will be very ...unforgetable... you know, we put so much dreaming in this thing, but I won't let this ruin the whole fun, send me please some pixie dust!!!!

 

[moet7]

Hi Nikki,

Saw your link in your posting and read all about your wonderful wedding. How exciting for you.

And what a fantastic honeymoon you and your new husband have planned!

My first time to Disney World was for my honeymoon, 25 years ago! I fell in love with the place and couldn't wait to have children to share it with them.

We will be sailing with all 4 of our children celebrating our anniversary.

Wishing you all the best on your wedding day!

And as Mickey says:

See you real soon!!!

 

[Susan C]

Hi
So sorry to hear about your FE. I know from the messages I got from gradsmommy that she was leaving again on the 15 of july. Even if you overnighted it to her today, she might not have time to fix it and get it mailed back to you before she leaves again. Do you think you would be able to remove the pocket that was meant for your daughter and change it around? or perhaps take it to a person who does alternations?? I would "think" that gradsmommy should/would reimburse you for this cost since it was her fault that it was made incorrecly.....hang in there and don't let this take any of the magic away from your trip.......hope it works out for you!

Good Idea...take it to someone who sews.. I got mine today from her as well.. I think you could have the patches switched..

Susan

 

[ZCrew]

Yes, we are doing that as well. It was going to be too close if we flew in on Saturday. Flying from CA I can see that as well. What time do you get in on Friday? We get in around 7:30 p.m. or so.

We will be flying in from California the evening before the cruise, and staying at the Hyatt at the airport. The next morning, we will be taking Disney transportation to the ship. Is any one else staying at the Hyatt the night before?

 

[Hillaryone]

So I have a stupid FE question. Since I'm such a Newbie (not only first Disney cruise, but first cruise ever!), I'm wondering if the FE exchange is something unique to the Dis-board or are there usually other groups with FEs going on at the same time?

Oh, and Elcka, yes per your request I'm saying a prayer for the repair of your FE. I realize it's not the end of the world, but I can guess how you must have felt. All excited to get your FE, only to open it and have your heart sink. I will bring your gifts no matter what your FE looks like! *mental note... bring something stress-relieving for Elcka!*