8/17/2008 Double Dip 4-day Wonder

[rileysmommy]

Bumpin' us up again.

Here's a question. Since our scheduled stops are now CC on Monday, Nassau on Tuesday and CC again on Wednesday, when will Pirate Night be? Just wondering....

 

[Ski-and-Sea]

Bumpin' us up again.

Here's a question. Since our scheduled stops are now CC on Monday, Nassau on Tuesday and CC again on Wednesday, when will Pirate Night be? Just wondering....

Good question. I can see it being either Monday night or Tuesday night. And I can make cases for it being either night. Will be interesting to see what DCL picks.

We are determined this time to actually make it to the Pirate Night show. On our last two cruises we got there so late (we had late dinner) the show was basically over and decks 9 & 10 were so mobbed we couldn't see a thing.

And isn't 2008 the 10th anniversary of Castaway Cay?

Speaking of the beach.....in all the craziness of booking for 2008, I got my bill for our Jersey shore beach rental for this summer. Yikes, the vacation money is flying out of my wallet.

Welcome to everyone who is joining us on this cruise. I know what you mean about not getting to actually meet face-to-face with the people on your cruise meet thread. Its like you need two DIS meets onboard. One on embarkation day and one later in the week.

Wow - the temps this morning were in double digits (13*). Lynda.....-22(F) is bone chilling cold.

 

[delauzons]

We are so excited for our first cruise-the Aug 17th Double Dip! We have 2 Cat 9's booked for our family. It will be me-Stephanie(43 then), DH-Chris
(42), DD-Allison(13 then), DD-Amanda(9 then), and DD -(4 then). I would love any suggestions for things not to miss. Is the Palo brunch on the 4 day and if so is there time since we go yo Castaway Cay twice. Also how is the teen club for a 13 year old? Thanks so much!

 

[RedFamilyLuvDisney]

This my families 2nd trip to DCL. We only did the 3 days and that was not enough. There's so many things we missed the first time and so this will be a catch up for us too. And hopefully the weather will be nice to us this time around we will get to stay at CC longer and now even better we will be going twice.....

 

[Lynda Silk]

Ski-and-Sea,
Yes, -22 is bone chilling cold!!! When I was waiting on the train station platform to go to work, a lady beside me moaned that it was torture! And of course, the train was delayed! Never fails when the weather is not cooperating!

RedFamily, noticed that you are going on Freedom of the Seas in Nov! You are so lucky! You'll have to tell us all about it; I'd love to try that ship as well. I've been on 2 RCCL cruises and really enjoyed them, but Freedom of the Seas looks like an awesome ship!

delauzons, I"m trying to think of 'must do's' but everything is so good, it's hard to pinpoint specific things! All of the evening shows are great, and my kids loved all of them too. Actually, any of the shows they put on are wonderful, whether they're in the evening or during the day. The dinner in Animator's Palate is a must do. Can't tell you anything about the kids' clubs (although I'm sure they're fantastic) because my kids aren't 'club' kids and found that there was plenty of other things for them to do like swimming, movies, shows, eating, etc. on their own. Loved the beach at Castaway Cay, and my kids really loved the snorkelling and floating around on the beach mats. If I think of anything else, I'll let you know!

 

[Ski-and-Sea]

DS will be 13 on this cruise so he will be new to the teen programs. I think its called Aloft on the Wonder (its called the Stack on the Magic). The teens have their own area on the ship up on the top (used to be the ESPN zone). I think there are separate programs for the 13-14 y/o and for 15-17.

I've heard good things about the teen programs on CC.

One thing the Wonder doesn't have that the Magic has is Oceans Quest. This is a separate area on deck 2 for kids age 10-14. That area is perfect for the tween set. My kids loved it.

But I'm sure DS will love the teen area. He is extremely outgoing and social so I don't see a problem. My DD will be 12 so she'll still be with the 10-12 group (and jealous her brother will be with the teens).

My kids also spent a lot of time in the arcade. That was fine with DH & I since we went to the Cove cafe. We're big tea drinkers so we tried the specialty teas.

I am hoping that Palo brunch will be available during this cruise. DCL only has it on the sea days and we technically don't have a "sea" day on this cruise. So we'll see what DCL does about that. I am hoping DCL keeps all the sea day activities while parked at CC.

I read on another thread that DCL will do a new Toy Story show for the Wonder in 2008. I hope that's true.

Why are train platform areas always so cold. Its like a magnet for wind/rain/ice/cold air.

 

[Lynda Silk]

My kids will probably spend a lot of time in the arcade too. And I'll have to talk to them about the teen programs on CC. I'd like to rent the bikes too; we've never done that before.

I'm glad you mentioned the specialty teas at the Cove cafe! I've never tried them and I love tea as well! It's been a while since I've been on the Wonder (2002) so I'm sure there will be a few things that are either new or I haven't tried before. And I agree that a new Toy Story show would be great too!

The next time I'm stuck waiting on that train platform, I'm just going to keep an image of me in a hammock at Castaway Cay in mind! I felt like saying hallelujah! when I heard the train bell ringing!

 

[rileysmommy]

I just changed our room to one of the secret porthole rooms on deck 5!!!!!!! Yea!!!!!!!!!!
My sister emailed me yesterday that it was available and when I was awake at 1:00 in the morning I emailed DU and requested it and then this morning after I put dd on the bus I got the email that we got it!!!!!! We are in room 5520!!!!!! I'm so excited!!! And my Shoreside Survival kit arrived in the mail today too!!! I am listening to the warm, soothing sounds of Castaway Cay right now!!! What a day!!!

 

[Mickey'sfriend]

Speaking of the beach.....in all the craziness of booking for 2008, I got my bill for our Jersey shore beach rental for this summer. Yikes, the vacation money is flying out of my wallet./QUOTE]


My sister (Rileysmommy) and I lucked out. Our parents retired to Ocean City, NJ about 8 years ago. They live just a few blocks from the beach!! We have our free summer vacation each summer!



Did you see my sister's post above me?? Aren't I just the nicest sister in the world?????

 

[rileysmommy]

Why yes Mickey'sfriend, you are just the most wonderfulest sister in the whole world. I bow down to you.

 

[Ski-and-Sea]

Awwww.....sisters looking out for each other.......

So, its looking like us in the NJ/PA area are going to get a big snowstorm this week. I'm a weather junkie and accuweather is getting excited about this.

I'll admit - we love snow. A winter storm warning is a cause of celebration in our household. We're heading to Elk Mountain this weekend to ski. Booked a hotel near Scranton.

We stay in Avalon at the Jersey shore for a week in August. Been going to Avalon for over 10 years now. We've been doing surfing lessons for the past couple of years and this summer we're going to buy surf boards. It will be interesting fitting that on our roof of our car with all our other beach stuff.

Here's a beach picture to give us warm thoughts this week. Its not Castaway Cay but its DD at a beach in Costa Maya that we went to on our double dip cruise back in August. The Magic was the only ship in port that day.

 

[Mickey'sfriend]

Ahhhhh! The beach is looking pretty good right now! I just love the beach! (I think I was a lobster in a previous life.)

Just got my confirmation from DCL today!! Only 552 days to go!!

 

[Ski-and-Sea]

I have to post and mention that when I checked on the cruise meets section that our cruise was listed right under the August repo cruise so there are two threads with the same sailing date listed one after another..

Verandah man was telling me that the repo thread was averaging 1,000 posts a day and it took him three hours to catch up over the weekend. Yikes.

Hey, I got my DCL confirmation in the mail as well. Turns out somebody can't add correctly because the original quote I got turned out to be too high and the actual cost is a tad lower.

We're going to be flying down the day before. Right now we're booked at the Hyatt at the airport but we'll switch that to a hotel near the port.

 

[Mickey'sfriend]

We'll arrive at the port on Saturday, too. Not sure where we will stay.... I'll figure that out in a few months. Can't book on Expedia 18 months out?????!!! Don't they know us obsessive planners want to have all those details ironed out??? Oh, well.....We may stay 2 nights in Jekyll Island, GA before cruising. We will be driving in from PA. We'll have to see how the $ is later this year.

Stay safe and warm these next 2 days!! Snow, ice, sleet is a comin'

 

[Mickey'sfriend]

Bumping us up to page 1!

 

[Lynda Silk]

Mickey'sfriend, I know exactly what you mean about Expedia! It's so frustrating that they have nothing past Dec 2007.

The beach is exactly what I kept in mind this morning when I was out at 5:30am shovelling the driveway so I could get to work! Oh well, we've had fairly mild weather up until February so I guess it's payback time now.

 

[Mickey'sfriend]

Well we just told the kids that we are sailing on the Wonder again!! I think they were more excited now than when we told them about the first trip. I guess they, too, now know how WONDERful the trip is!! My son was beside himself when he found out he would get the CC lanyard and pins. (Pin trading is quite the hobby here in our family.) I cut the picture of the ship off the photo jackets you get from Shutters and attached a DCL pin to it. On the back I wrote "Big Doin's going on! Disney Wonder August 17-21, 2008". My 8yr. old was the first to realize we were sailing again. My older 2 just though the dates were from our sailing last month. They are still dancing around here really excited. I hate to tell them that the trip is over 500 days away!!!

 

[Ski-and-Sea]

How did everyone fare with the storm?

It was big bust for us. We got about 3-4 inches of sleet. Enough to close school yesterday and 2 hour delayed opening today. Kids had fun sledding on the ice in our yard.

More importantly is that the heavy snow fell at the ski resorts. We're heading to Elk Mountain (PA) on Friday night for a weekend of skiing and they are reporting they got 18 inches of snow.

On a sad note....I did read that two DISers had their flights cancelled yesterday and they missed their Wonder cruise leaving today.

Did you guys see the post about the fireworks mishap on the Magic. Scary.

Yeah.....I don't understand why we can't book flights/hotels 18 months out. What's up with that????

78 weeks till we cruise.

 

[Mickey'sfriend]

Ski & Sea - enjoy your weekend skiing! Sounds like fun! I haven't been skiing since I was in college. I'd be afraid I'd seriously hurt something now! School was cancelled AGAIN today!! 2nd day in a row! UGH! The kids are ready to head out to play in our snow - about 6 or 7 inches with an additional 1 in or so of ice. The roads are still quite a mess. Hope they get them cleaned up today.

 

[rileysmommy]

Enjoy your weekend Ski-and-Sea!!! Great skiing weekend here in PA. Well, my dd's school was closed yesterday too and then they have today and Monday off for President's weekend. So she only went to school 2 days last week and 2 days this week. Nice life! My dh wants to head to Kohl's today to get new shoes for work AGAIN! I swear that man goes through shoes like a pair a month. (He works in a restaurant) So of course I'll have to see if there's anything I "need" while we are there too. Dd wants to play in the snow but too cold for me. I'll let dh take her out. Our front yard is a perfect sized hill for her. Have a great weekend everyone!!!!!!! Mickey'sfriend, I'll see you on Sunday!!