8/17/2008 Double Dip 4-day Wonder

[addicted_to_WDW]

I'm sorry your dad is having such a rough time, Rick. I'm sending many positive thoughts his way. Promise him a cruise after that transplant comes.

 

[kewlteacher]

Sorry to hear about your dad....maybe things will turn out ok..just in case though...here is soe pixie dust! ***************************

I've bought the suction cups for the suits, the over the door holder, glow necklaces for the kids, underwater cameras for CC...new sneakers for everyone...I think I'm ready. I just have to think about packing. Of course we fly the day we leave which shocks everyone, but we leave like 5:00 so keep your fingers crossed!

BTW- to someone who asked...I teach 6th-8th grade..computers. And yes, I love it!

 

[disnutz]

OK I did start packing. And all of the laundry is done. At least until tonight, when i am sure there will be six more loads. Anyway - I am getting there.

For anyone who cares - I posted a thread on the cruise board - we were staying at the Hyatt MCO for the night we get in, and I was able to book on the Hotwire site and saved over $100. (I got the room for $73). Just thought someone else may want to know that it is at least somewhat available next week.

 

[Willem]

We are spoiled boys, Steven's mom does all our laundry Got the last stuff we needed yesterday, so we're ready to pack and go now. Only a few more days to wait.
Today it's quite hot here in Belgium, but from tomorrow it will be bad weather for at least a week. Like if I care

 

[disnutz]

Willem - does she want to come to my house? With an 8 yr old boy and a teen girl, plus the hubby who works outside, the laundry never seems to end!!!!

Just think of the heat as your way of preparing for florida!!!


OK - we are T minus 1 week and counting!!! Woo hoo!!! I am so ready to get out of here - the office is driving me batty!

 

[disneymama]

We land in Florida in 3 days and 1 hr (but who's counting). I still haven't packed anything but laundry is almost done. I'm used to throwing together clothes for 4 day weekends, so this shouldn't be too bad. I also plan on doing laundry at POR a few days before the cruise, so we won't need to bring that much.

I checked with Midwest Airlines yesterday to see how many bags we could bring without paying - each of us gets 2 checked!!! We bought the tickets before May 24th so baggage fees don't apply. I was worried we would have to haul everything in carryon suitcases. I'm too cheap to pay $25 for each bag checked.

 

[Lynda Silk]

Coach Rick, so sorry to hear about your dad. But how sweet about your kids volunteering to donate their livers..your dad is so lucky to have such a caring and loving family around him! It certainly shows how wonderful he must be to have such a great family. And of course we will continue to keep him in our prayers and to send good positive thoughts and pixie dust!

Willem, you are SO lucky to have Steven's mom doing your laundry! You are definitely 2 spoiled boys...you lucky guys! It's hot here too but boy, did we ever get the rain last night! I took my DD to her drum lessons and I was soaking wet even with a light jacket and umbrella! We've had so much rain this summer; at least the lawns are nice and green and the flowers are blooming!

I'm picking my cruise docs up from the TA today! My office used to be near the TA but then I transferred to another office, so I had to wait until I was in the area. I can't wait to have them in my hands!

disneymama, I don't blame you for not wanting to pay the extra money for the luggage...you can use that money to buy a few drinks or souvenirs on the cruise! Much better spent that way!

kewlteacher, you might be the last ones to leave; if so, you'll have to be the one to 'turn out the lights' on this thread!

Sea-and-Ski, I loved Mama Mia too! I saw the theatre production 3 times when it was playing in Toronto so I was really looking forward to the movie! But I think I embarrassed my DD because I kept singing the songs out loud! I told her she was lucky that I didn't start dancing in the aisles! I went to see Step Brothers too on the weekend...it was terrible! The language was awful and it was so dumb. I knew it was going to be silly so I was prepared for that but it went way beyond that. However, my kids liked it; they thought it was really funny!

disnutz, I'm dying to get out of the office too! And at least your laundry is caught up now! I just put my last load from the weekend in today! I thought I'd be done on Saturday but there were just too many things to do on the long weekend and so here I am still trying to catch up!

 

[Coach Rick]

just doing the online check in thing. Has anyone here actually read the terms of that contract? First of all, when you print them out, the print out version skips article 13&14, which throws off all the other articles from the site to the printed page. One of the articles states they are not responsible for the "sea-worthiness" of the "vessel". Well if they aren't, WHO IS?

 

[kewlteacher]

Coach Rick- We do not talk about "sea-worthiness" the week before! lol I've had a hard enough time with my oldest watching shark week last week!

 

[Coach Rick]

Given everything that is going on, you would not believe what I have spent the afternoon doing. Planning another cruise...but this time it's for work..tough job huh...

Yeah, it's one of my "other businesses". I have a group that wants to do a Boston to Bermuda cruise on NCL. Don't know what I'll be up to next June with dad and all, but it certainly has gotten me excited to try it. Now the funny thing, I felt like I was cheating on the Wonder just looking at another ship. My bad, as the kids say...

DSis is still not sure what she is doing, doubt she will come though, it's just how she is. I so hope she comes. I love my twin 9 year old nephews, and would love to see them on this cruise. What a mess, and stressful day this has been.

 

[Ski-and-Sea]

Coach Rick......I'm so sorry things have taken a turn for the worse with your dad. But it must be so nice to know that your family comes through to help when times are tough. That is a real testament to how we raise our families!!!!

Yes, the cruise contract is rather funny when you actually go through and read the fine print. Its like DCL basically owes you nothing.

Willem.....wow, you are so lucky to have someone do your laundry. Loved the comment about "who cares what the weather will do while we are away".

Ahhhh, the laundry and packing questions......I will admit on each cruise I take less and less. The black pants I wear on pirate night are the same ones I wear on casual night. Mix and match. Great thing about 2 stops at CC is that we can all wear the same outfit during the day both days.

Kewlteacher....I think you will be "turning out the lights" if you are flying in the same day we sail.

Been working on my door signs and of course I made a door sign in landscape mode and forgot to change the print setting from portrait so wasted a sheet of magnetic paper

I think I'm going to use some of my old door signs and just take a sharpie marker and change the room number. Its a good idea to write down your room # on your door signs.

 

[Coach Rick]

Ok, this is weird. I was just looking over a navigator from Tuesday July 1, and it states the "All Aboard" time is 2 AM. Nassau at 2 AM hmmm

 

[Ski-and-Sea]

Ok, this is weird. I was just looking over a navigator from Tuesday July 1, and it states the "All Aboard" time is 2 AM. Nassau at 2 AM hmmm

That drives me crazy. If the crew as a whole gets good reviews then the captain has the option of having the ship stay late at a port. It gives the CMs extra time to spend in port off the ship as a reward.

But we don't find that out until that day.

We had that happen in Cozumel when the all aboard time was switched from 10pm to 1am. It was hilarious watching everyone running down the dock from 12:30am-1:00am to make it back.

My cruise documents for both legs of my cruises show the departure time in Nassau as 5:15pm.

 

[disnutz]

Coach Rick - I am so, so sorry about all the stress you are dealing with, and we are keeping your family in our thoughts!! Thanks so much for the shirts!! THEY ARE AWESOME!!!! I hope your Sis decides to go, but if she doesn;t feel up to it, she should go with her gut. Everyone deals with things differently.

Hubby is so funny. He does not get my obsession with this board, but he was like - if we wear the shirts, aren't peopple going to think we are with a big group? I said - DUH - we are with a big group - a few thousand obsessive compusive disney planners!!!

Going to joanns today to get a few more stickers for the door signs, and then a pedicure tomorrow. After that, just last minute packing, and trying to get the office under control. If I am so indispensible, shouldn't I make more money?

The nassau thing seems to change constantly. What did you do about your excursion Ski and Sea?

 

[disnutz]

Oh - and - I forgot to post this - for anyone who is obsessively watching the atlantic for signs of a hurricane (which is, unfortunately part of my job) , the atlantic looks completely clear, with the exception of a minor blip in the bahamas that is not forecast to amount to any significant storm. This should be gone by next week, and with nothing yet forming, keep your fingers crossed that storms look unlikely at this point.

 

[Coach Rick]

Oh - and - I forgot to post this - for anyone who is obsessively watching the atlantic for signs of a hurricane

Oh, I don't know anyone like that

Never mind...

 

[Ski-and-Sea]

(about the hurricane watching).

In all seriousness......last year at this time we did have a hurricane looming on the horizon and we did sweat it out for a few days.

To answer the question about my Nassau excursion......I'm doing that on the 8/21 cruise and we've booked the DCL snorkeling excursion just to be safe. I know it won't be as good as the private excursion we had booked but at least its something and we know we'll be going on it no matter what the departure time is.

We're staying onboard in Nassau on this cruise. Since we don't have a sea day, we'd like a day to just chill out onboard. I'll be parked by the adult pool while my kids will be in the clubs.

Funny story about our day in Nassau last August. DH absolutely loves just chilling on the verandah. He signed up for the wifi service and was all set to sit on the verandah and check up on some work emails.

So there he is happily sitting on the verandah and there is a Carnival ship parked next to the Wonder. Suddenly work crews from both the Wonder and the Carnival ship start operating incredibly noisy machinery doing maintenance on each ship.

DH said the noise was so loud that he had to retreat indoors He ended up joining me at the adult pool for lunch.

BTW.... you guys are going to love the cushioned lounge chairs around the adult pool. And here's a trick I learned. If you're not ordering something alcoholic from the adult pool bar, order a soft drink because you get a hard plastic glass and not that flimsey paper cups you get from the drink station near the Mickey pool. Yes, it costs money but the plastic glass holds up better in the heat/sunlight while you're lounging.

 

[Lynda Silk]

Hmmm, cushioned lounge chairs, cups for drinks by the pool, good chance re no hurricanes...oh, it all sounds so good!!!!

Coach Rick, you are so funny...as you can see, there are a lot of us laughing at your hurricane watching comments! As for the seaworthiness observation, don't tell your DD that since she's already a bit nervous about being on the water!

Disnutz, thanks for that info re the hurricanes! And I loved your comment re the 'big group'! It's so true!

 

[Ski-and-Sea]

Are we giving out our room numbers so we know where we all are on the ship?

We're in 8048 which is directly under the Goofy pool. Its a noisy room but we were able to keep the same room for both cruises.

 

[Lynda Silk]

We're in 6576 and we have late seating for dinner.