A Magical Time!!! ~ 04/21/2014 ~ 4 Night From Port Canaveral

[ForMyBoys]

Link to the FE sign-ups in post 54:
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=3069227&page=4

Who's Coming? in alpha order by DIS name
Disneywurld
Names/Ages: Karen (Mom 40), John (Dad 44) 1 boy (14) and 1 girl (11).
Stateroom #? Early/Late Dining? From Maine

erinsmom03
Names/Ages: Chriss (Mom), Dave (Dad), Linda (Grandma) Erin (10)
Stateroom- 7622 Early/Late Dining? From Michigan

ForMyBoys
Names/Ages: Ali (Mom 37), Bill (Dad 45), 3 boys (11, 7 and 4).
Staterooms- 5022 and 5024. Early Dining. From Milwaukee, WI

Lauriejl2
Names/Ages: Laurie and Pat, 3 boys (13, 11 and 6) and 1 girl (4).
Stateroom ? Eary/Late Dining? From Buffalo, NY

Marinefam
Names/Ages: D.J. (38) and Stacie (38) 2 boys- Josh (16) and Jeremy (13). Also traveling with D.J.'s parents, in-laws and another family of 4 friends!!!
Stateroom 6647 Early/Late Dining? From Maine

Peanmunch
Names/Ages: Lori and Gary, 2 boys- Daniel (14) and Benjamin (10- almost 11).
Stateroom? Early/Late Dining? From Rhode Island

Pluto6
Names/Ages: Darrin (Dad), Carla (Mom), Andrew (13) and Ivy (11)
Stateroom ? Early/Late Dining? From Maine

PurpleJewel
Names/Ages: Pam (46) Alden (43), Emily (15), Catherine (13), Abby (13) and Sarah (11).
Stateroom: #6572 &#6574 Late Dining From: Fredericksburg, VA

Rambler5678
Names/Ages: ?, 2 daughters (9 and 2), MIL, and two nieces (12 and 9)
Stateroom? Early/Late Dining? From: Savannah, Ga.

Tigerali
Names/Ages: Alison and DH, 2 girls (3 & 6).
Stateroom? Early Dining. From ?

TJDisneymama
Names/Ages: Laurie and DH, 1 boy (10) and 1 girl (6).
Stateroom? Early Dining. From Boston Area

tootsiemr (running the fish extender lists)
Name/Ages: Natasha(30)Will(29)Kathy(53), Nathaniel (14 months)
Stateroom GTY Early/Late Dining? From Hamptons, NY


If you would like to add additional info to this thread just message me or reply to this thread and let me know and I will add it. Thanks

 

[IrishCowboy]

I have added your thread to the cruise meet list

Have a great cruise!

 

[erinsmom03]

Hi! We just took our first family cruise on the Fantasy a few weeks ago! We all absolutely loved it! We took advantage of on board booking, saved lots of money on this 4 night cruise on the Magic. Can not wait to cruise again! Just might have to watch for summer GTY rates, lol!

Thanks for starting the cruise meet thread, it was a great way to get to know people for our last cruise. We didn't do the FE last time, I'm thinking I'd like to do it this time.

 

[ForMyBoys]

Hi! We just took our first family cruise on the Fantasy a few weeks ago! We all absolutely loved it! We took advantage of on board booking, saved lots of money on this 4 night cruise on the Magic. Can not wait to cruise again! Just might have to watch for summer GTY rates, lol!

Thanks for starting the cruise meet thread, it was a great way to get to know people for our last cruise. We didn't do the FE last time, I'm thinking I'd like to do it this time.

Hi Chriss Yay we are not alone! I've read about the FE, I think it would be a lot of fun.

So do you mind sharing some of the great items you loved from your first cruise? We have a year wait so in the mean time I'm enjoying living vicariously through others!

 

[erinsmom03]

Hi Chriss Yay we are not alone! I've read about the FE, I think it would be a lot of fun.

So do you mind sharing some of the great items you loved from your first cruise? We have a year wait so in the mean time I'm enjoying living vicariously through others!

Hi Ali!
I love that you're going to keep the cruisers list! You can add some info to my crew: daughter Erin will be 10 (yikes!) on this cruise, and my mom, Linda, will also be joining us. I am excited to say that Erin will be rooming with Grandma, and DH and I get our own stateroom! Woo hoo! Almost like going on a cruise on our own, right?!

Goodness, hard to pinpoint what to share...so much for sure! I learned SO much from DIS that helped me tremendously. One thing I liked, we rented a car instead of taking the shuttle back to the airport. That saved us money and we were able to take our time heading back. We stopped at Downtown Disney, which was so crazy crowded it wasn't worth the stop. Live and learn, I guess.

I loved decorating our door with magnets. Probably went a little overboard, but even my daughter got in on it and made some magnets. It was a fun way to pass the time waiting for the cruise. Definitely buy magnet paper online, it is too expensive in the store. And set your settings to glossy photo paper if you bought glossy magnet paper, or the colors wipe off.

Hmmm...I liked ordering gifts and having them in the room when we came onboard, it was nice to surprise the family!

Do you any questions I can answer? That might be easier...

 

[ForMyBoys]

Hi Chriss! I added your info

That will be nice to have Grandma and a prive state room! Instead of one veranda family suite we opted for two connecting secret porthole rooms, it was actually a bit cheaper and gives us 150sq ft more space. That discussion made me think that adding state rooms to the running list of Dis cruisers is probably a good idea.

Great comment on renting a car! We haven't decided if we are driving or flying. If we fly we will rent a car instead of shuttle. I assume they bring the car to you at the port?

 

[erinsmom03]

I learned all about adding the second room on the DIS of course! At first we did connecting verandah staterooms, but after more research, I ended up with one verandah room and one inside stateroom, across the hall from each other. Now I don't have to worry about Grandma falling overboard unsupervised!

There are shuttles that pickup/drop off at the port from all the rental car companies. We had to wait about 20 minutes for ours, but it wasn't too bad. We stayed at the Poly the night before, so we just took the cruise transfer shuttle to the port. That worked well for us. Not sure what we will do this time. We've never driven to Florida, but we think we might try...but I'd rather fly down and stay somewhere before. There's a lot of people who recommend staying at a few of the hotels like Country Inn and Suites and taking advantage of the park and cruise packages for their cars.

Do you know if you'll want to do any port adventures? We wish we hadn't booked any on Castaway Cay....not that they weren't nice, but it would have been more than fine to just sit and relax and enjoy the day. Plus, DD was terrified of the stingrays, and my nephew was actually "bit" by one when we were feeding them. This was more because of a 7 year old not being able to hold the food correctly than anything else.

I've heard a lot of people recommending that if you want to do Atlantis while in Nassau, that if you book a room at the Comfort Inn you get full access to all Atlantis pools, slides, aquarium, etc. We've thought about doing that. We also consider just staying on the ship in Nassau. It's not one of my favorite ports, and I'm not sure if DD would enjoy the Atlantis water park without her cousins. There's lots to do on board, don't feel like we had near enough time on the Fantasy and we were on there for 7 nights!

I can say we loved our swim with the dolphins adventure in Cozumel. Don't know if there's one in Nassau, but I give Dolphinaris 2 !

 

[Husurdady]

HI EVERYONE,

Dw Kathy and I just booked this cruise today.....we can not wait!

 

[ForMyBoys]

HI EVERYONE,

Dw Kathy and I just booked this cruise today.....we can not wait!

Hi, Nice to meet you!!! I added your name to the running tally.

Are you having a couples only cruise?

 

[Husurdady]

Hi, Nice to meet you!!! I added your name to the running tally.

Are you having a couples only cruise?

And A big HI to you GUYS also.
Yes, will just be the two of us. WE will be in stateroom 7620.
I see in 2 weeks you guys will be at WDW. We will be there from the 18th till the 27th also...Got to start using those DVC PAP. I figure an April visit now, along with and April visit in 2014 just before our cruise and an Oct visit this fall we can get in 21 days to the parks.

 

[erinsmom03]

Welcome aboard Don and Kathy! I couldn't believe it when I saw your cabin number...I had to double check to be sure, but we are actually right next to you! DH and I are in 7622, and DD is with my mom across the hall! We feel like we will almost be on a couples cruise, having a room all to ourselves, LOL!

I am so jealous, I wish I was going to WDW in 2 weeks too! Hopefully it won't be crowded, since Easter was so early this year. I am sure it will be alot warmer than home, feels like spring is never going to get her this year in Michigan.

Don, I see that you are DVC members...have you cruised before?

 

[ForMyBoys]

That is really neat your staterooms are next to each other. You already know your cruise neighbors

Don, you are a Disney diehard! And you saw correctly, we will be in WDW from April 20 to the 27th. My oldest turns 10 next week and my youngest turns 3 the week after we get back so its a bit of a birthday treat. I'm very much looking forward to seeing Disney through their eyes.

In fact I've been looking forward to this vacation so much that I ended up booking this cruise because I really wanted something to look forward to after we got back from WDW. We also plan to visit WDW next year before the cruise, and will probably hit one of the Disney waterparks the Friday we get back.

I keep trying to talk DH into a quick weekend trip for my DS's 7th bday at the end of Aug but I'm not sure he's buying it. With the price of airfare these days a weekend trip for a family of 5 doesn't really make fiscal sense.

 

[Husurdady]

So far this is turning into a " Midwest cruisin' bunch "....don't you think? Do we have anyone out there from Ohio or Illinois who are cruisin' with us?

 

[Husurdady]

Welcome aboard Don and Kathy! We feel like we will almost be on a couples cruise, having a room all to ourselves, LOL!
Don, I see that you are DVC members...have you cruised before?

Thanks for the welcome.
Yes being next door to U-2, ERIN said; "to just keep an eye/ear on Mom & Dad"..........
This will be our 4th cruise on the Magic....we just love that ship. And yes we are DVC- OKW members, Kath and I have been hanging out there since 1997 now.

 

[Husurdady]

That is really neat your staterooms are next to each other. You already know your cruise neighbors

Don, you are a Disney diehard! And you saw correctly, we will be in WDW from April 20 to the 27th. My oldest turns 10 next week and my youngest turns 3 the week after we get back so its a bit of a birthday treat. I'm very much looking forward to seeing Disney through their eyes.

In fact I've been looking forward to this vacation so much that I ended up booking this cruise because I really wanted something to look forward to after we got back from WDW. We also plan to visit WDW next year before the cruise, and will probably hit one of the Disney waterparks the Friday we get back.

IQUOTE]

Hi ALI,.........
the funny thing about your 2 rooms.....we almost booked the one next to yours, rm 5020. And I don't know you guys know it or not but you guys have secret port hole windows to look out.....hence that is why they are called SPH stateroom......You pay for an indoor deluxe room and get a port hole room.These rooms always book up fast. You got WE can not wait till thurs. the 18th to get here. We need a VAC.

 

[ForMyBoys]

And don't forget Minnesota, we need someone from there too

Our TA was savy and let us in on the SPH rooms. We talked through a few room options and in the end w/ three boys we decided two connecting rooms was worth it for our sanity I'm trying to talk some friends of mine into booking the ones across the way, they also have 3 kids about the same ages as mine. I almost had them convinced until she found out she was pregnant last month

Chriss, I didn't notice your past reply and just saw it scrolling down. For port adventures my boys really, really, really want to go to Atlantis. They keep seeing the hotel on the commercials with the big water slide. However, given that we can hit a nice WDW waterpark I really doubt its worth that much money just to go to a waterslide. I'm sure its more than that, but that will be what my boys want to do. In any event, aside from booking this cruise a year ahead of time I'm usually not one to pre-plan. When dh and I went to Jamaica we did tons of stuff, rode horses, climbed the falls, shopping, etc. and never booked an excursion.. we just hopped a cab. I'm assuming the same can be done, but maybe a bit more challanging with a family of 5 and having limited port time. I figure I have lots of time to think through all of that.

We plan to get to Florida Thursday and spend Fri-Sun at the parks before the cruise. So question for you, if you stay at a WDW hotel before the cruise, is the cruise transfer shuttle to the port free?

 

[Husurdady]

And don't forget Minnesota, we need someone from there too

Our TA was savy and let us in on the SPH rooms.

We plan to get to Florida Thursday and spend Fri-Sun at the parks before the cruise. So question for you, if you stay at a WDW hotel before the cruise, is the cruise transfer shuttle to the port free?

ALI
you have a good TA. WE have stayed on the Wonder in 5020 and another cruise in 5520 before, On the Magic in 2009, a 7day western cruise we where in 5524.
The anwser to your question; NO!....I think the cost is something like $35.00 per person one way.....You could get a rental car for the 5-of-you a-lot cheaper than that and drop it off in port canaveral, then they would shuttle you-guys to the ship for free. Our plans are: we will fly in on a Wed., the 16th, and rent a car for the whole time we are there in Florida.
Take for example our vac. two week from now.......we are coming in on a thurs. renting an Alamo large chevy for 9 days and the cost is $183.00 total. I just like to have my own transportation and also we will be going over to the Gulf side on the 23rd.....our Son birthday and he lives there in ST.Pete Beach..........don't ask me his age......A hint ...his mom [my Dw],we will be having our 45th anniversary May 4th. .....And he is our oldist and only son, along with 3 daughters, 42,39, and 28 yrs old.....Hence, the writing under my name Hoosier Daddy.

 

[erinsmom03]

Thanks for the welcome.
Yes being next door to U-2, ERIN said; "to just keep an eye/ear on Mom & Dad"..........
This will be our 4th cruise on the Magic....we just love that ship. And yes we are DVC- OKW members, Kath and I have been hanging out there since 1997 now.

LOL! Erin would say that!

It's only our second cruise, we just did the Fantasy in February. Looking forward to the Magic, especially since it'll be after the drydock refurb. I actually posted a poll several months ago, asking people which class of ships they preferred. When it came back almost 80% in favor of the classic ships, I decided we just had to give it a try, changed our reservation from the Dream to the Magic.

We are a Midwest cruise meet! Our last cruise seemed to be really big from Boston/Jersey/New York area. It'll be nice to see more of the Midwest represented!

I've gotta say, GO BLUE!!!!!!!!!!

 

[erinsmom03]

Chriss, I didn't notice your past reply and just saw it scrolling down. For port adventures my boys really, really, really want to go to Atlantis. They keep seeing the hotel on the commercials with the big water slide. However, given that we can hit a nice WDW waterpark I really doubt its worth that much money just to go to a waterslide. I'm sure its more than that, but that will be what my boys want to do. In any event, aside from booking this cruise a year ahead of time I'm usually not one to pre-plan. When dh and I went to Jamaica we did tons of stuff, rode horses, climbed the falls, shopping, etc. and never booked an excursion.. we just hopped a cab. I'm assuming the same can be done, but maybe a bit more challanging with a family of 5 and having limited port time. I figure I have lots of time to think through all of that.

We plan to get to Florida Thursday and spend Fri-Sun at the parks before the cruise. So question for you, if you stay at a WDW hotel before the cruise, is the cruise transfer shuttle to the port free?

Just tell your boys that the wait for the waterslide will be really long (I heard it could be over an hour ) and maybe they won't want to go... My daughter wants to go to Atlantis too... if we do go, we'll probably do the Comfort Suites hotel, it's a lot cheaper. I'm thinking that staying onboard in Nassau may not be so bad!

Yes, the shuttle was expensive...for us it wasn't so bad last time, since there are only 3 of us. But renting a car can be cheaper. It was much cheaper for my cousin on the way back to the airport, and we even saved some money on it too. I'm pretty sure we will be skipping WDW next time We aren't DVC members, and don't go nearly as often as we'd like, but DD has been there 4 times now. We're thinking it might be time to try Universal. DD just finished reading the 3rd Harry Potter book, and asked for a Hermione wand for Easter...thinking it might be a good time to try The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. I think it just might kill me though to be in Orlando and NOT go to WDW!

How much fun it will be for you, celebrating your boys' birthdays on your trip!

 

[erinsmom03]

our Son birthday and he lives there in ST.Pete Beach..........don't ask me his age......A hint ...his mom [my Dw],we will be having our 45th anniversary May 4th. .....And he is our oldist and only son, along with 3 daughters, 42,39, and 28 yrs old.....Hence, the writing under my name Hoosier Daddy.

That's awesome how many years you and your wife have been married! I will admit that I am the same age as one of your daughters...I'm just not saying which one!