any November 15th eastern 7 ngt cruisers out there?

[kimszath]

Geez... our kids are gonna look better than WE are!

Somebody's post reminded me that I don't have a jacket for Luke... He's got quite the assortment of long and short-sleeved Polo shirts, and a tie, but I need to find him a sport coat, probably. I'm not going to put him in a tuxedo, though he'll get to wear one the week after we get off the ship! He's got a couple pair khaki's and a nice pair of dark blue Polo chino's. I should probably just try to find him a dark blue sport coat, right? As soon as we get the family picture done and get seated, he'll want to take it off, I'm sure. That ought to suffice for semi-formal night, as well. Assuming he doesn't want to stay in the Oceaneer Club for BOTH nights!

I think I've got hubby talked into a trip to OK City on Saturday--told him I really need a cocktail dress. Another pilot in my squadron is going with us--messed up his leg at a squadron party (yep, it was rough!) and can't drive for long distances--just wants to get out of town. He and Mike can talk trash while Luke and I go dress shopping for Mommy. Then maybe I won't feel rushed! Hmm... I bet there's a Children's Place and a Gap Kids up there... think they'd have little boys' sport coats???

 

[alexturner74]

Here's some of what we wore for dinners on our cruise last year:

Cruise dress

I brought two suits, and one or two pairs of khaki's, and wore all of them at least twice. I didn't see a problem with this since I was only in them for a couple of hours each day, and when you change out the shirt/tie, no one would ever notice. Of course, my wife had a different outfit for every night...

Good luck to all deciding what to wear! Have fun packing.

 

[nedleycan]

You and your wife look so nice!

Kim, I really don't think it is necessary to get Luke a jacket, unless you want to. I found it hot in the dining rooms (although some people did find it cold... depends on the person) and I can't imagine a little boy wearing the jacket at all. Although... it would look really cute in photos! Our problem right now is that Cam doesn't have dress shoes. He never has to dress up, so we have never bothered. Also, he is so fussy with what he wears, he is going to hate any shoes we pick... I may have to bribe him! haha

 

[mkauffman]

Great pictures, Alex. Thanks for sharing.

Linda, bribing usually always works. I bought Garrett's shoes at Payless (do you have those?). Something was marked wrong, either the box or the computer, but the shoes rang up for $3!! It was a steal. I almost felt guilty...almost being the key word!

Dana, no one likes the way they look in a bathing suit! Of course I'm not a size 4, but I've always hated wearing swim suits. Don't worry...we're all friends...and women definitely understand! When we go to the beach I just tell myself that no one there is ever going to see me again and you know what, there's ALWAYS someone that looks worse than you do!!

Michelle

 

[lbgraves]

Michelle, you know you are so right!!! I worry about my gut after these kids have stretched it out & wont wear a 2 piece anymore or biker shorts or leggings. I ALWAYS see people who shouldn't be wearing those things more than me & they just don't care. We are our own worst critic.

On a good note, I ordered a 128MB for the camera last night and picked up some a battery recharging set that works in the car today at WM. I also picked up a safer container of nail polish remover that wont spill all over the place by accident if I decide to do my nails. I know that there are other things I wanted to pick up but couldn't remember them today. I looked for the big ziplock bags but couldn't find any. If anyone has found them where were they????

 

[mkauffman]

One of my most favorite things to do in life is people-watch. There's nothing better than sitting on the beach, or in the middle of the mall, and watching people! There are some strange ones out there.........and just like MAGIC....they make you feel better about yourself! Works every time! You need a quick pick-me-up...go to the local country fair. Right there next to you will be a guy without his front teeth or a really overweight woman with striped stretch pants and a flowered shirt on!

Ok, I'm being goofy. But you do realize I live in the country...so I'm allowed to make fun of my own!

Ziplocks...do they come bigger than the one gallon?? I want to get those, too. I have a whole list of silly little things that I want to remember to pack. One thing I thought of that I hadn't seen posted anywhere was a lint remover brush. You always need those when wearing black!

Michelle

 

[Tonydana]

i just bought a couple of boxes of the two gallon ziplocs at my grocery store (shaws).. let me know if you guys cannot find them, i'd be happy to grab them and send them off..

dana

 

[lbgraves]

Just added it to my list, Michelle!!! Thanks! I have only checked WM but will try Target & HT this week, then LYK if I still need them Dana. Thanks for the offer!

 

[mcampbell_22]

Michelle, you are so right about the people watching. It can sure be a morale boost when you need one.

I picked up my 2-gallon ziplocs at Walmart. The box really isn't that different from the 1 gallon so you may have just overlooked it. I had to look a few times before I saw them.

 

[Tonydana]

wow, sure is quiet today.. you can tell i have no life - i have checked back about 20 times since lunch..

put all of our tips together today in my disney envelopes that i made.. did not seal them though so we can add extra if we want.. also put together some envelopes for room service.. i remember last time we went, everyone loved to get the neat disney envelopes.

i have all of my clothes and tony's clothes pretty much together now - not dress clothes though.. what a horrible mom i am though, i was looking over what i had together for stephen and realized i had not put out any socks lol.. i would have caught it eventually..

ok, that's all for now.. off for a walk.. please post something - i need my groupie fix here

dana

 

[SINK]

Alright, Dana, just to make you happy. Here's a post about gratutities. Even though it's nice to give your servers/stateroom hosts cash, you should think about just charging it to your stateroom the night before (or the day of) the final night. This way, you are earning disney reward dollars. I hope that everyone has their Bank One Disney Visa. I'm a Day 1 member, applied for the card before they released it.

 

[mcampbell_22]

Sorry SINK, we don't have the Disney Visa, as a matter of fact we don't use credit cards at all - haven't in probably 6 years. Closest we come is a Debit Card with MC logo. It certainly makes for a lot less mail every month. It's also nice to know that other than our house (vacation house has no mortgage) we have no debt (paid cash for both cars too!) My next big goal is to have the house paid off in 10 years so we can retire without worries on that end.

Good news! TA just called and our docs are in. I'll go and pick them up tomorrow morning (didn't feel like packing up the kids to run down - too close to dinner). Can't wait to get my grubby little hands on them...

 

[Tonydana]

thanks sink for the advise.. that would have been too much thinking on my part to think to put the tips on my WONDERFUL disney visa.. lord knows i pay for everything else with that thing, why i never thought to do that with my tips - i don't know..

so help me out here.. can we go to guest services anytime on our cruise to square away the tips or does it have to be the very last day.. i would hate to have to deal with the crowds.. and will they just give me a slip that i can put in my cute envelopes??

thanks so much for the advise and info.. can't wait to meet all of you..

oh yeah and stephen's socks don't fit.. mental note with a hundred other things - buy my son new socks

dana

 

[SINK]

Cruise Gratuities:

You can go to Guest Services anytime to put the gratutities to your room if you so choose. However, you will get a lot of heat from them (they don't like to generate the vouchers too early in the cruise). The day at sea (Thursday) would be a good time to go (no lines), especially if you have Palo's on Friday evening. This way, you can give the vouchers to your servers on Thursday.

Even Friday morning would not be bad at Guest Services (everyone else is rushing to Castaway Cays).

You should wait until Thursday, this way, you will get to know your servers a lot more, and could adjust the gratuities accordingly.

Way to go on the Disney Visa (even though I love my Amex). I have earned $110 thus far (although those darn thieve(s) stole my previous WDW Reward Vouchers). Now, instead of issuing vouchers, they are issuing a "prepaid, refillable" card which can be used anywhere Disney (just like Disney Dollars).

 

[nedleycan]

I will check out Payless (yes we have them here, but most of the shoes are really cheap and my son would say they are uncomfortable). I think he is very sensitive to fabric and comfort, as he always complains unless his shirts are really soft cotton (unless they have Spider-Man on them, then they can be any fabric!) haha I know my nephew will wear anything his mom pulls out for him (and they are the same age)... so I must be blessed with "fashion boy"... just like his father!

I am hoping to find black running shoes, as they may be more comfortable for him. Then, he may wear them some other time. And if I don't let him wear them until the cruise, then they will look all shiny and new. I will check it out this week. Thanks for the suggestion!

 

[nedleycan]

I just went on the payless site and found some black suede slip-on shoes that look nice and aren't too expensive, and Cam would wear them again! Yeah! I will go there this week... hopefully! haha

I just realized that I think Meghan could use some fancy shoes. Maybe I will take advantage of the "Payless 1/2 price for second pair" deal.

 

[lbgraves]

I checked out their site and found some black sandels that would look nice so I will be going there today. I didn't think that I would be able to get sandels this time of year. The silver ones that I got earlier this year are a little tight.

Linda, if you can't find any I have a pair of boy's dress black shoes size 9-10 I think. LMK if these would help & I will pack them to give you on the cruise.

 

[nedleycan]

Lisa,
Thanks so much for the offer! That is really nice. Unfortunately, Cam is a size 11 (big feet like his dad.... hmmmmm). haha I am sure that I will find something, I just hope not to spend tons of money for something he will wear once or twice on the cruise. Hopefully the black suede slip-ons at Payless will work. I am sure he will wear them again some time.

 

[mkauffman]

These are exactly the kinds of shoes that we buy at Payless....the kind that my kids will most likely NEVER wear again! That way if they don't like them, or if they're uncomfortable to wear (they only have them on for two hours at dinner), I won't care. Heck, I only spent $3 on them!!! I can't complain even if he only wears them once.

Dana, you can go to guest services anytime. I plan to do this several times through the week anyway, just to check on what my kids may have spent. We've had the talk and they know the rules, and believe it or not, they both listen really well, but we all know that kids will be kids. Those smoothies are hard to pass up!

Michelle

 

[mkauffman]

I just saw my countdown timer and it's 23 days....I get butterflies in my stomach just seeing it!

Michelle