9/24/09 3 Day Wonder - Cruise Meets, and FEs, and Goombays oh my!

[m_kasch]

hey guys!! it must be fun to get to book other people's vacations!! everyone always jokes that i should be a travel agent because I always have all the info for everyone and give them all the tips for how to book their trips. maybe someday I will do it on the side or something.

very exciting at my work today, LOL. we had to go through this whole "rewiring" thing that really was just a fancy way to say layoffs and cost cutting...so anyways, as part of that, they started ordering this super cheap paper for the printers and copiers. well, now ALL of the printers that I have installed on my computer are broken. the paper is too thin and it broke them all. now THAT is a good way to save money, LOL.

on a more exciting (yet still work related) note, our stock just went over $30 for the first time in a couple of years!! it used to be close to $50, but then thanks to wal-mart and their $4 generics, it went down down down. but, yea!! now my stock is worth something!! LOL

 

[disney honeymooners]

i feel your pain at sams i was complemented by all the members and almost all of the managers(except for the front end one) but b/c of not getting a certain amount of people to sign up for a membership that is $100 a year they fired me everyone i worked with said that it was b/c i was the highest paid cashier and they new that i would keep getting raises b/c i didn't do anything wrong(never missed work always showed up worked late) but now i have a new job with a manager i use to work with who does see what i do and appreciates it.
I wont tell anyone you don't like the new stuff we have a country singer who is from Dallas ga and i hate his new music i prefer his old stuff. but then again i like most old music (really old like 50,60,70 and not so old 80 and 90) I like almost everything greg on the other hand pretty much likes 50 and 60 and country music.

 

[jenny105]

Mary - That's how I got my job! I told HR that everyone always tells me I should be a TA because I'm so good at planning vacations.

I am big into 80s music. I have a lot of the 'best of' cds from the 80s as well as Monters of Rap and Monster Ballads.

 

[disney honeymooners]

i need those cds i love 80s music eventhough technically be the end of the
80s i was only 5 but i grew up listening to it with my mom and my aunt. Everyone tells me i should be a TA since i book all of their trips to Disney for them and can tell them about almost all of the resorts i haven't stayed at them all but i have been in almost all of them my family looks at other resorts when we stay at disney to get ideas on where to stay the next time we come.

 

[karentan]

hiya again, have only just managed to get on the net and i finished work close to 3 hours ago!! well i had to go to petsmart on the way home because cerby needed some more dog food, and the offer finishes today, then came home and took him out for a walk, then cleaned the kitchen, then cooked dinner...... so much for finishing work and relaxing!!
garys going up to glasgow at the weekend to see his parents, he's going for a few days and taking the dog, so i get the house to myself for a few days. i like having some time to myself every so often, plus it'll give me some time to mess around with my FE gifts! plus i'm going to get gary to bring back something scottish for the gifts!
whats everyone else doing with their gifts then? are you all doing one per cabin or per person or per night? i dont want to be the odd one out! last cruise we pretty much decided to just do one drop, not one per day as it'll take too long to walk round the ship and deliver each day. and especially as we've got 9 groups already so far, i think i'll stick to just delivering once.

actually had quite a good day at work today, didnt get a lot achieved but it was a nice relaxing day, had to go bank some company checks, typed some emails for my MD as it was his PAs day off, did some accounts stuff, not much really!
only one more day til the weekend though!

we're going to the zoo on saturday, me and gary dont ever know what to get each other for birthdays, so we normally end up coming up with really random stuff. this year i paid for him to go in and prepare food for and then hand feed the lemurs in their enclosure! he's really looking forward to it

 

[jenny105]

Lainey - me, you, and Mary should start our own TA! And if you want to go somewhere else, too bad, you're going to Disney World!

I think I'm going to do a drop once for my FE stuff. I'm making a goody bag so it'll be lots of stuff in one thing rather than me running around the ship at all hours of the day.

Joe and I went to the zoo for his birthday one year. We're lucky we have the big Bronx Zoo near us but we also have this place called Popcorn Park. You can buy peanuts or popcorn to feed the animals and all of the animals have been rescued from bad conditions. I love feeding the bears! There's a huge fence separting you from them but you can throw popcorn over and theyll catch it. They're so cute!!!

 

[karentan]

that sounds so cool! i wanna feed a bear some popcorn!!
i'm doing a goody bag too, got ideas of what i'm putting in them but i havent tried making them yet so might change between now and then! i wonder how many people we'll end up with, i asked on the cruise board how many people were in their 3 night wonder's FE exchange and pretty much everyone said 4-6 cabins, we've already got 9!! its going to be good fun!!
i've just filled out the contract for my DVC rental, its official! i'm going to paypal her the money when i get the confirmation from disney forwarded to me! everything is starting to come together, its going to be a great holiday.
i thought about becoming a travel agent a few years back but every company i asked said you needed experience, but no one would take you on to get the experience in the first place!

 

[jenny105]

I haven't started making the goody bags yet or even buying the things I need for it but I have ideas as to what I will put in it. I'll probably start shopping around for things sometime next month.

Yay for the DVC rental! SSR looks like a really nice resort. I'm sure you're going to love it.

I just got Joe Yankee tickets for an anniversary present. I told him no presents but since I saved $$$ on my NKOTB tix, I figured I'd surprise him with tickets. He's dying to see the new stadium!

 

[disney honeymooners]

I think i may just do it one night and i am doing a goody bag with a couple of things that Ga are famous for and some stuff that deals with the caribbean or the cruise(our private deck party group might get one extra thing in their bags a magnet that looks like an alcoholic drink) But it will depend on if i can find the ones that i want.
Greg wants to go to my grandmothers cabin in Helen Ga for his birthday if he has the time off if not i promised him that i would take him soon. Looks like my tax return money will be going towards passports, MNSSHP Tickets, and FE Gifts and maybe pay some bills if i have any left i go crazy when i am buying little gifts for people.

 

[jenny105]

I do too, Lainey. I see stuff I like and can't make up my mind on what to buy so I end up buying everything!! That's part of the Libra sign though: indecisiveness!

I have to get my passport. I'm probably going to do it next month. I keep putting it off! I need to stop that because before I know it, the cruise will be here and I won't be able to get on that ship without it!

 

[disney honeymooners]

well i am Pisces which means i Day Dream alot and with disney it is even more
everyone is saying that it is taking 3 weeks now to get them back so it shouldn't be that bad if you get it next month they dont need our numbers til our final payment is due so you should be ok

 

[jenny105]

Ok then I have awhile til I can get mine cause the final payment date isn't until July. Do we have to call DCL to give it to them or can we do it online when we do the online check-in?

I day dream a lot too. I've been talking about nothing but Disney to Joe and my co-worker Alex. He's never been there so I think he thinks I'm a little crazy. He google earth-ed Disney World today and was amazed at how big the parking lot was for MK.

 

[karentan]

yeah its huge, thank goodness they have trams, imaging having to walk all that way in the morning!
gary needs to get a new passport before we go, his is valid for a few more years but the laminate on the back is starting to peel and they can refuse him entry for that, so its better to be safe than sorry. but its hell trying to get him to do it!
i can't wait til the weekend, i havent been sleeping well the last few nights so i'm looking forward to a bit of rest and a couple of days off, plus we've got the zoo tomorrow
i know what you mean about the FE gifts, i keep thinking of things i want to put in mine, but i need to keep myself under control, if i keep getting all the things i see for them i'll bankrupt myself especially as we've already got 9 groups participating and we're still over 5 months out.

 

[disney honeymooners]

i have walked half of the MK parking lot (crazy family!) i told them that after that i didnt care if the tram was pulled by horses i was not gonna walk it again unless we were 2 or 3 rows away from TTC.
I know what you mean Karen i can't get Greg to go get his done i am probably gonna have to drag him there he always puts stuff off til the last minute and this is one thing that can't be put off til the last minute if he wants to go on the cruise and it would be a pretty crappy honeymoon if my husband wasn't with me.
I get the shopping thing from my mom she always goes overboard on little gifts for our stockings at christmas our stockings are always packed as full as she can get them and then we have like 1 or 2 bags with more cute little gifts that she just had to buy which i think the stockings are my fav thing to get at christmas and i think we have talked mom into just doing that this year instead of getting all the older kids big gifts just do stockings we like them better(but she may end up spending more money that way which isn't a good thing)

 

[jenny105]

Lainey, tell Greg to get his passport or we'll all going to be waving at him as he watches the ship sail away! Joe has one but it expires mid May so he needs a new one. So I'll probably go with him when he does that and get mine! It's funny that they last 10 years because he looks like a little kid on his passport!!

 

[disney honeymooners]

gregs passport photo looks like a mug shot
if greg had shaved off his facial hair he would have looked like a teenager in his picture he was gonna shave it off and keep it off but i told him i am not marrying a CHILD!! he did shave it off so that by the time we get married it will have grown in straight and look good for the pictures.

 

[jenny105]

Joe's was done when he was 17 but he looks like a kid. He has a baby face. People always double check it.

 

[karentan]

i keep winding gary up that he looks like cartman from south park on his passort
it was really annoying when i got married, as they say that you should have a minimum of 6 months left on your passport after the date you get back. i had 5 months left, but i didnt want to risk not getting let into the country, so i had to pay for a new passport before we went, then had to pay again for a new one when we got back after i changed my surname. theiving passport people!!

yay, only 38 minutes of work left!!

i'm trying to decide at the mo whether or not to hire a car to get to the port. the DCL transfers are £100, but i can hire a car from one of the downtown disney hotels for the 4 days we're on the cruise for £89, add the port parking to that, about £30, and it only works out as £19 more than getting the bus transfers. plus it means we can leave the suitcases in the car while we're on the cruise, instead of having to try and fit 3 cases plus hand luggage in our stateroom.
i can get that down to £97 including the parking if i just hire the car for 3 days, but its cutting it thin time wise (we'd have to pick up the car at 12pm on thursday, drive to the port, then on the sunday drive straight back to drop the car back by 12pm). i think i'd rather pay the extra £22 and have the car for a bit longer.
what would you guys do?

we're also thinking of hiring a car for the first 2 days we're there so we can pop out to the malls and seaworld, we'd have to get cabs otherwise, but hiring the car is only £40 for 2 days. thats quite a bargain!

 

[jenny105]

If we can fit all of the luggage into my car, you can hitch a ride with me and Joe to the port. I'll leave that up to you but I just thought I'd put it out there!

 

[karentan]

thanks so much for the offer but we'll have 3 big cases, last time we could only just about fit them into our hire car, and thats with one and the hand luggage in the trunk and 2 in the back seat!

thank you very much for the offer though. thats the only thing thats making the cruise difficult, its trying to figure out how best to sort the luggage out.