8/17/08 Captain Jack's Repossession Repo Cruise to PC thru TPC #6

[Sarangel]

Reasons to Leave DC: 87,496 + 1 = 87,497
Reasons to Stay in DC = 0

Awwww... Poor M. You'll survive.

Speaking of reading, I've recently picked up The 8th Habit: From Effectiveness to Greatness by Stephen Covey. Reading it for work - and since they bought it - it's hard copy. Anyway, I'm four chapters in, and I can tell already this is going to be an important and transformation read. Not just for work - but especially, and most importantly, as a parent.

I'm planning on bringing it along on the cruise. Would love to get together with any other interested folks to discuss.

Oh and Crash - when I read for fun it tends to be Sci-Fi / Fantasy, we we'll have something to share (provided it's not on my phone!)

The book sounds cool. I may try to catch up on it & we can have a DIS Book Club meeting in the Cove Cafe one day.

I'm also a sci-fi/fantasy reader. I'm figuring on bringing along a couple of books that look interesting and leaving them for others, so I guess I should go sign up for the great book swap.

Why don't we have a book smiley? I could really have used one for this post.

 

[m&m's mom]

Good news! Sarah did indeed make the team again. In fact, she was the first one called when they announced the team. So she was really really happy. The tryouts lasted about 2.5 hours longer than we expected so it was a long night and she was pretty nervous. She is really excited about the new coach and her new team. It was fun bringing the girls home as they were so relieved and excited!

Thanks for the well wishes everyone!

Yay!!!! I am very glad for her.

Interesting heated thread over on the main board about hammock hogs
So what does everyone here think about this situation. Personally the hammock never really appealed to me as I don't find it that comfortable.

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1811266

And look at me in the thick of it.
I am just surprised that people take ownership of a hammock if they are not in it. It does "belong" you anyone unless you are in it.
If you vacate it for any reason I cannot imagine denying someone a hammock when I was not using it. I guess I do not understand the "It's mine" concept.

 

[Nutty4Disney]

Awwww... Poor M. You'll survive.



The book sounds cool. I may try to catch up on it & we can have a DIS Book Club meeting in the Cove Cafe one day.

I'm also a sci-fi/fantasy reader. I'm figuring on bringing along a couple of books that look interesting and leaving them for others, so I guess I should go sign up for the great book swap.

Why don't we have a book smiley? I could really have used one for this post.

I am sure to have a couple of mysteries with me... James Patterson, Stuart Woods, hopefully there will be a new Janet Evanovich. I am trying to read Caribbean by James Michener, but not sure if I will bring it or have it finished by then. Not much time for reading at home (too busy with the DIS board). I hope there are some others who want to trade mysteries. Just not into Science Fiction/Fantasy, although that is what DDs and DH read. I think I am the only person in the world who has not read any of the Harry Potter books.

 

[m&m's mom]

OK, I have done the budget for the on-board expenses.
I have about $900.00 on my Disney Rewards card, $654.00 suggested full tip for 4 and I am budgeting $750.00 for total tips which will allow me to tip extra. That leaves me an additional $150.00 for whatever.
In addition I have $4700.00 saved for expenses. That will be a total of $4850.00. Divided by 15 days it comes out to about $325.00 per day.
I am not doing spa villa but will be doing a few spa treaments- basically massages etc. I will probably have excursions at Acapulco, Cartegena and CC to pay for. All other excursions are already paid for.
I think I am in good shape and if I want something in addition to this I will still buy it.
Does this appear realistic?

 

[m&m's mom]

I am sure to have a couple of mysteries with me... James Patterson, Stuart Woods, hopefully there will be a new Janet Evanovich. I am trying to read Caribbean by James Michener, but not sure if I will bring it or have it finished by then. Not much time for reading at home (too busy with the DIS board). I hope there are some others who want to trade mysteries. Just not into Science Fiction/Fantasy, although that is what DDs and DH read. I think I am the only person in the world who has not read any of the Harry Potter books.

I love mysteries and LOVE, LOVE Janet Evanovich books.
I also LOVE LOVE the Harry Potter books but probably will not bring them.
I am probably going to bring The Nanny Diaries. I read it on my last cruise and it was perfect summer vacation reading.

 

[bellelinus]

Interesting heated thread over on the main board about hammock hogs
So what does everyone here think about this situation. Personally the hammock never really appealed to me as I don't find it that comfortable.

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1811266

I've never used a hammock on CC -- I don't even remember sitting down on the lounge chair for more than a minute! It seems to me that there has to be a middle ground between someone putting a pair of shoes on a hammock all day to reserve it, and a person taking someone's things off the hammock because they went to get lunch . . . but clearly this is just going to be one of those threads that gets people all worked up . . .

Wonder if anyone can answer this ? Yesterday it took me forever to find and get into my Wish List. Since I have never had to book an excursion before.is the wish list automatically populated in the place we go to book the excursion?Or do we have to put them in again during the booking ?

Yes, when you log in and it is time, you should be able to go to your wish list and click "book it" and it goes much faster . . . for this particular cruise, there is no telling, though! When I have done it before, if you have put something like a particular spa treatment or Palo brunch or something on your wish list, all available times will show and you click on the one you want. If it is an excursion that only has one time, just that will show up and you click to book it. It's a great system provided the computers aren't too bogged down to work!

 

[bellelinus]

OK, I have done the budget for the on-board expenses.
I have about $900.00 on my Disney Rewards card, $654.00 suggested full tip for 4 and I am budgeting $750.00 for total tips which will allow me to tip extra. That leaves me an additional $150.00 for whatever.
In addition I have $4700.00 saved for expenses. That will be a total of $4850.00. Divided by 15 days it comes out to about $325.00 per day.
I am not doing spa villa but will be doing a few spa treaments- basically massages etc. I will probably have excursions at Acapulco, Cartegena and CC to pay for. All other excursions are already paid for.
I think I am in good shape and if I want something in addition to this I will still buy it.
Does this appear realistic?

Sounds like you have a generous buffer in there to me . . . on a sea day with no spa treatment you will likely spend only a little for drinks or a bingo card, etc., so then you have extra for other days if need be. Just don't forget to have some cash on hand for when you are in port . . .

 

[m&m's mom]

Sounds like you have a generous buffer in there to me . . . on a sea day with no spa treatment you will likely spend only a little for drinks or a bingo card, etc., so then you have extra for other days if need be. Just don't forget to have some cash on hand for when you are in port . . .

Yeah, Bingo and a few drinks by the pool is all I thought of for those days too.
Bingo card $40.00 (I can't stand to lose more than that anyway) and say 3 drinks at $8.00. Still less than $100.00 for those days.

 

[GoofyontheHiSeas]

OK, I have done the budget for the on-board expenses.
I have about $900.00 on my Disney Rewards card, $654.00 suggested full tip for 4 and I am budgeting $750.00 for total tips which will allow me to tip extra. That leaves me an additional $150.00 for whatever.
In addition I have $4700.00 saved for expenses. That will be a total of $4850.00. Divided by 15 days it comes out to about $325.00 per day.
I am not doing spa villa but will be doing a few spa treatments- basically massages etc. I will probably have excursions at Acapulco, Cartegena and CC to pay for. All other excursions are already paid for.
I think I am in good shape and if I want something in addition to this I will still buy it.
Does this appear realistic?

You will be fine Coral. My estimated budget is a little less than that but includes

• Tips
• Palo
• Wine
• Arcade Cards
• Drinks
• Photos
• Pins
• Souvenirs
• Lunch/Dinner in Ports
• Excursions in Acapulco, Cartagena and CC
• Tips for excursions already payed for
• Spa for DW

Are we missing anything else

 

[bellelinus]

You will be fine Coral. My estimated budget is a little less than that but includes

• Tips
• Palo
• Wine
• Arcade Cards
• Drinks
• Photos
• Pins
• Souvenirs
• Lunch/Dinner in Ports
• Excursions in Acapulco, Cartagena and CC
• Tips for excursions already payed for
• Spa for DW

Are we missing anything else

Does "Drinks" include rounds for your friends on the Dis, Roger?

If not, you could be missing that . . .

 

[GoofyontheHiSeas]

Does "Drinks" include rounds for your friends on the Dis, Roger?

If not, you could be missing that . . .

Julie, that is the largest portion next to tips but it may exceed tips thinking of everyone that I owe drinks to.

 

[bellelinus]

Julie, that is the largest portion next to tips but it may exceed tips thinking of everyone that I owe drinks to.

You are going to be VERY POPULAR on this cruise, Roger . . .

 

[KSDisneyDad]

I am sure to have a couple of mysteries with me... James Patterson, Stuart Woods, hopefully there will be a new Janet Evanovich. I am trying to read Caribbean by James Michener, but not sure if I will bring it or have it finished by then. Not much time for reading at home (too busy with the DIS board). I hope there are some others who want to trade mysteries. Just not into Science Fiction/Fantasy, although that is what DDs and DH read. I think I am the only person in the world who has not read any of the Harry Potter books.

I enjoy James Patterson, but for a two week cruise, I think I'd need about 4 or 5 of his books as they are such quick reads, much like Dan Brown. For this cruise, I might pack Lee Child's newest Jack Reacher book. I also enjoy John Lescroart's Dismas Hardy series, and am currently reading books by David Baldacci. I typically pick an author and stick with them for a while.

I love mysteries and LOVE, LOVE Janet Evanovich books.
I also LOVE LOVE the Harry Potter books but probably will not bring them.
I am probably going to bring The Nanny Diaries. I read it on my last cruise and it was perfect summer vacation reading.

My DS started reading the Percy Jackson series which is very similar to Harry Potter (each book is a new year -- summer camp instead of Hogwarts and the kids are children of Greek gods instead of wizards). I went ahead and read them just to see why he liked them so much. The newest one comes out next week and he can't wait to start reading it.

 

[goofyforlife]

BTW...if i'm not in chat tonight it's only because our DSL is acting up again...

Seems like every Fri our connection goes down...If it does it again tonight I am soooooo complaining to Verizon....

 

[ga9497]

I've never used a hammock on CC -- I don't even remember sitting down on the lounge chair for more than a minute! It seems to me that there has to be a middle ground between someone putting a pair of shoes on a hammock all day to reserve it, and a person taking someone's things off the hammock because they went to get lunch . . . but clearly this is just going to be one of those threads that gets people all worked up . . .

I agree but there will also be the ones that think they own the thing for the day. I have been there when there are clothes / shoes on the hammocks and never once did I actually see a person in it

 

[tom31b]

Downtown Anchorage. No snog. Just moose.

Snog?


(Forget it, she's on a roll)

 

[tom31b]

Battery life was good and he liked the ability to index and annotate his reading material and look up words. He said battery life was really good. He could fly to Seattle and back and not have to charge it.

Apparently the battery life was so good it was worth repeating.

 

[A Litle Pixie Dust]

Good news! Sarah did indeed make the team again. In fact, she was the first one called when they announced the team. So she was really really happy. The tryouts lasted about 2.5 hours longer than we expected so it was a long night and she was pretty nervous. She is really excited about the new coach and her new team. It was fun bringing the girls home as they were so relieved and excited!

Thanks for the well wishes everyone!

Congrats!

 

[A Litle Pixie Dust]

Do NOT click this link

It's like a car accident..had to look! I didn't want to click the link..honest I didn't...but it was there..

 

[sk8ingmom]

OK, I have done the budget for the on-board expenses.
I have about $900.00 on my Disney Rewards card, $654.00 suggested full tip for 4 and I am budgeting $750.00 for total tips which will allow me to tip extra. That leaves me an additional $150.00 for whatever.
In addition I have $4700.00 saved for expenses. That will be a total of $4850.00. Divided by 15 days it comes out to about $325.00 per day.
I am not doing spa villa but will be doing a few spa treaments- basically massages etc. I will probably have excursions at Acapulco, Cartegena and CC to pay for. All other excursions are already paid for.
I think I am in good shape and if I want something in addition to this I will still buy it.
Does this appear realistic?

It looks realistic, but I budget mine differently (to me $325 a day seems like a lot, but if you are taking excursions out of that pot it might be right). I'm crazy enough to do a sort of day-by-day budget & front load all the stuff I know we are doing onboard onto day 1 (palo, spa, shutters). We aren't doing any DCL excursions, so we've already paid for all of them (~$850). I like that I can use the Disney rewards from them!

OK, here's my onboard charges estimate:

Palo (dinnerx2, brunchx2, teax1) = $75
Couples Massage = $250
Lush Package Tastings = $50
Shutters = $50
Corking Fee ($15x12 nights) = $180
2 bottles of wine (bought onboard) = $70
Misc. (drinks, arcades, etc) $30/day = $450
DCL/CC Souvenirs ($50 per person) = $200
Tips = $700

Just over $2,000
AND that's not including what I budgeted for in-port souvenirs & transportation or the case of wine I plan to buy in CA to carry onboard!

I should have about $800 Disney Visa rewards by August, so really $1,200ish out of pocket.

Now, having said all that...in true fashion, my buget is more like a "guideline" - a guess at what we are going to spend. We never look at eachother and say "Well gosh, I really love that XX, but we only have $xx budgeted for souvenirs in today, so I guess we won't get it..."

If fact, I really should go back and budget for an emerald! I don't like shopping & I have pretty simple tastes. I'll end up with a DCL girly t-shirt or tank top, a silver charm from each port (if I can find one) for my charm bracelet, and that's about it. But on our last 2 (and only) cruises, DH has talked me into letting him buy me a nice pendant. I got a beautiful red crystal flower form the LaLique store in Atlantis and a black pearl from Grand Cayman. I'm not a fan of costume jewlery, so for me, it's real or nothin'. (OK, simple tastes, but there's a bit of princess in me too )