any November 15th eastern 7 ngt cruisers out there?

[Kabuli1]

Yeah, I'd like a little Casyaway Cay therapy right now, myself! But, it's sunny tho pretty cold, so I gues I'd better try to get a little gardening one!

Hope everybody had a great wekkend!

Karyn

 

[nedleycan]

Karyn,
Your experience sounds horrible! I can't even imagine what that would be like.
One thing I can't wait to do again is the Surreal Bath... hubba hubba... that was fun! You will recognize me as the first person in line for Palo and the Spa (I am a fast runner, so hope to get to both, while hubby handles the kids). hehe

 

[alexturner74]

Less than 6 months to go!

Anybody else out there on the 11/15/03 cruise?

 

[mcampbell_22]

I'm taking Alex's advice and responding to the early dinner/kids email from Lisa here so that we can keep this link current and active.

Lisa, the hook up for early diners with kids sounds like a great idea. I'm sure the kids would love to be able to eat with the kids they'll be playing with at the Club/Lab. It's always more fun for them (and us) to eat with friends we know than with just family, or go forbid a couple at our table who is not "kid friendly." Are these types even allowed on DCL? My kids will be (just) 7 and 5 at the time of the cruise and are very well behaved, but we all know that kids will be kids (and husbands sometimes too!).

Again, this sounds like a great idea and we should try to coordinate this are time draws near.

On another note, I've had to totally rearrange my flight schedule as Delta has removed all its early morning non-stops out of Boston and they also did away with our flight home. Both flights they moved us to made it impossible for us to get to the ship before it sailed and to the airport from the ship before the flight left!

Spent the morning with my TA to go over possibilities (connection flights, other carriers, flights day before...). Finally settled on staying with Delta (if they bring the original flights back we can go back to them) because we got such a great price, all other carriers flights would cost us more. We took a 6:20 am flight out of Boston with a plane change in Atlanta. Arrives at MCO at 11:30. Yes we'll be able to get to the ship and make ressies!

Our return flight is a 4:25pm. We think we'll do the day rate at the Hyatt. Not the perfect arrangements I had booked but with all Delta's changes, not bad. My stress level has been lowered considerably!

Off to run errands.
Have a good day all.

 

[mkauffman]

Mary, we're also on Delta from Harrisburg, PA - Atlanta - Orlando. Our flight from Atlanta to Orlando is scheduled to arrive at 11:36 a.m. Is this the same flight you're on?

Michelle

 

[alexturner74]

Should be the same flight. The only ATL-MCO flight that gets in around 11:30 is 1451, which actually arrives at 11:36.

We flew in on Saturday last year, but I'm thinking about coming on Friday evening and spending the night at the Hyatt.

 

[mkauffman]

That's the one we're on - 1451.

Delta has changed our flights many times so far and I've said from the beginning that if it gets too much closer to noon or after, I'm going to look into switching flights to Friday. That's getting a little bit too close for comfort. I don't know how much of a hassle I'll have trying to switch to Friday, but I'm willing to try to fight for it if I'm uncomfortable with the arrival time. We booked these flights a long time ago to be able to get the best available times and now it seems to not make much of a difference anyway.

The funny thing is......I'm usually very laid back about everything and I just deal with things as they're handed to me......but don't mess with my Disney cruise!

Michelle

 

[alexturner74]

Yeah, Delta (as well as all of the airlines) have had to adjust their schedules a few times over the last several months. Keep an eye on them as they may change again, but hopefully not.

You shouldn't have any hassle if you want to change your flight. Especially if they've changed them several times already. From what I've heard, they have been pretty accommodating.

Remember, if an airline changes your flight, you have the right to call them and change it to something that you might like better without penalty. However, once you confirm the changes, you give up your bargaining power and they have the right to charge you if you change your mind.

 

[mkauffman]

Thanks, Alex! That's great information to have. I guess I always thought that airlines gave you a tremendous amount of hassle if you wanted to change your tix, even if it's due to their time changes. I'm just going to keep watching my itinerary and hope for the best. I booked through Orbitz so they typically send me an email when something changes.

Michelle

 

[mcampbell_22]

Just checked the mail and our new itinerary from Delta arrived. Yes Michelle, we are on flight 1451 out of Atlanta. We've been assigned seats 13C,D,E & F.

Part of our decision not to change the flight to the Friday before was the expense of a hotel room that we'd only be in for a few short waking hours. We wanted to save the funds to spend on the cruise!

 

[lbgraves]

I am definantly glad that we wont have to rely on an airline to get there. 9 hours in a car isn't exactly my favorite activity...but I'll just focus on our destination. We will be staying with my BIL & SIL & their 2 kids Friday night in Jacksonville, then continuing on the next morning. I am going to be very pestery about getting out of town ASAP in the am...7:30 to latest. Somehow I have a hard time believing that it only takes 2 hours to get from Orange Park FL to Cape Canaveral. I am going to post for confirmation on that. I want to be one of the first aboard to enjoy every second of our trip.

I also just changed our first day back from going to Kennedy to simply enjoying the AS Movie & Downtown Disney. It will be much more relaxing & less expensive as well.

Is anyone else not planning on doing excursions? We may go out in St Thomas & St Marteen for an hour or two, but then plan to return to the ship to enjoy the pool & a more relaxed atmosphere...afternoon naps for the kids & maybe some time in the Rain Forest room?

 

[Cathy-Jesse]

My husband and I are planning to take a shore excursion on St Thomas. I heard that one of the beaches they take you is great. I was also thinking of takeing a tour of St. Maartan. I'm not much for shopping in the town, and I would like to see the island, especialy the french side. We chose the eastern just to have a couple of days at sea just to sit and relax.

All these flight issues! I'm so glad we are flying out the night before and staying at the Hyatt. Alex, maybe we'll see you there.It would be great to ride the transportation over to the port with you.

Anyone want to join together for the late seating? I gusess we would call the cruise line and ask to be seated together. We are planning at least one night at Palos, anyone else interested?



cathy

 

[Jo-Anne]

We're in the late seating, but wait listed for early...don't think the kids would last to the late seating...wonder how many of those on the wait list get their seatings changed?? I think by the ages of the kids in my family and our friends family (4-12), we will probably get the PLAPLAP rotation. I've also looked over the Palo menu, and it just doesn't excite me...I love Italian, but this just isn't doing it for me, but with all the rave reviews from this site, we'll probably end up joining the reservation line first thing upon boarding! We are most likely going to fly in on Friday night and I think rent a car for a day and drive down to Coco Beach area for the night. Am still trying to figure out which hotel we might be able to get on reward points. We have friend that are in St. Maarten right now for a week vacation so I asked them to make sure they scout out a nice beach for us to visit during that stop..don't think we'll be taking any of the pre-scheduled tours this time. My DH thinks I'm absolutely nuts for checking these boards so often to make sure I know every preparation detail in advance, but I love it! I ordered my Passporter the other day and can't wait until it arrives, but maybe I'll know everything from these boards anyways! Have a good night everyone...I'm putting my aching bones to bed now..we had a fantastic Victoria Day long weekend here in Toronto, and I got a lot of gardening done...found the back and leg muscles that hadn't been used since last Fall!!

 

[Kabuli1]

Alex, thanks for moving the discussion back to the boards - I tried to do that a couple weeks ago!

Cathy, count on sitting with Randy and I at dinner - K? Alex, and other late diners - want to join us? And, Cathy, I hope we can get a chance to meet this weekend in Syracuse.

Who was it that mentioned PLAPLAP rotation? We had that last year and I really enjoyed it - but I would like LAPLAPL this time. I will schedule my Palo night on an Animator's Palate night.

Jo-Anne, I wasn't impressed reading the menus for Palo either, and I didn't think is was a best meal ever - but.... it was rather magical and we had a wonderful time - so relaxing, such great servers! We like to get to know everybody, by the end of the evening we were the only people left in the restaurant and our table was surrounded by servers all telling us their stories! We LOVED it. If dinner doesn't excite you - I MUST say that the brunch was amazing and you shouldn't miss that.

Flight arrangements ..... haven't started thinking about that, but we will be flying out early on Thursday (maybe Wedneday night) and staying at the Beach Club Villas (DVC members) - doing the Food and Wine Festival at Epcot- anyone want to wine and dine around the world with us on Thursday or Friday?

Anyway, out of Chicago there's never a problem getting flights either on Southwest or ATA - and the lowest rates don't come out till closer to the date of travel.

And for those of you who already have made your flight arrangements - (in an earlier life I was a travel agent) - Almost certainly your flights will change again. Besides the uncertainty of the travel industry, airlines make seasonal shifts in flights...so keep an eye on things.

I haven't given alot of thought to excursions yet.

I would like to get over to Anguilla from St Martin. and we will definitley go over to St John from St Thomas. I wish we had the time in St Thomas for one of the tours of the BVIs from there. I've thought alot more about what spa reservations I want! And DH plans to spend the entire trip in the Rainforest!

Cheers everybody!

Karyn

 

[mcampbell_22]

Jo-anne I got my Passporter (from Buy.com) about a month ago and read in cover to cover almost immediately. What a great resource to have (in addition to this board, or course)! It has a prominent spot right next to my 3-ring planning binder. My husband also thinks I'm crazy (obsessed?) with organizing and researching every detail but boy doesn't he appreciate it when we on the vacation and everything is pretty well planned and anticipated. All the work now makes for a much less stressful and relaxing vaca.

Now if it only was November...

Off to pick up DD at Preschool. Have a good day all.

 

[mkauffman]

Bumping up!

Gotta take a look at that countdown!

Michelle

 

[nedleycan]

Thanks Michelle. I have been meaning to bump it for a few days. So, is anyone in our group staying in a category 1, 2 or 3?

 

[mkauffman]

That's a great new question. I'm in a category 11, same I was in last time. We spent so little time in our room that we wanted to spend the money on other things. The kids are literally ONLY in the room to shower and sleep, and that's only because we make them!

Michelle

 

[mkauffman]

Originally posted by nedleycan
So, is anyone in our group staying in a category 1, 2 or 3?

It just occurred to me...maybe you're asking so we can crash their room!

Michelle

 

[nedleycan]

Good idea! That isn't the reason I asked, but it would be a good idea! I would just love to see one of these rooms. I would never book one, mainly because it is so much more expensive, and I can't imagine that we would use all the perks, then I would be stressed out that I didn't use them enough!