April 11, 2010 4 Night Cruise

[Tarabra]

Sorry to hear that Suzy. It'll be here before you know it.

 

[ychcjbn1]

We've booked this 4 day cruise and our kids (3,4, and 7) are ecstatic! They can't wait to see the big ship and all of the Disney characters. My mom and step-dad will be joining us too. It's a first for the whole family. Woo Hoo! We're exactly 2 months out as of today. Who's excited?

 

[zalansky]

Welcome ychcjbn1! We're all excited here! I checked my reservation online today, just to see on the slight chance I had a room assignment. Not yet.

I have a 7 year old DS and a 4 year old DD.

The weeks are flying by. It will be here before we know it.

 

[Tarabra]

We've booked this 4 day cruise and our kids (3,4, and 7) are ecstatic! They can't wait to see the big ship and all of the Disney characters. My mom and step-dad will be joining us too. It's a first for the whole family. Woo Hoo! We're exactly 2 months out as of today. Who's excited?

Glad you joined us over here.

Has everyone booked flights yet? I haven't. I'm one of those wait until the last minute flyers. I always get better deals that way. We have 2 airports close by, and the closest has 3 flights per day to Orlando. Usually not a problem. I don't wait too long, but don't book months in advance.

 

[U2FanHfx]

Our flights have been booked since June 26, 2009! lol

We did have a major schedule change this week so we called the airline and ended up sweet talking our way into much better flight times for us. Basically more time in Florida, less time on a plane, in an airport or home in Canada.

Hope everyone is having a great day.

 

[ychcjbn1]

We are driving from NC for this cruise. My grandparents have a home in Orlando and we'll be staying with them the night before the cruise and hopefully one more night once the cruise ends. I feel like the time will totally fly on a 4 day cruise though! So much to do and not enough time, you know? Is anyone doing an excursion in Nassau? We debated over and over about what to do and have decided on the dolphin encounter. Although I'm shuttering at the cost. Has anyone ever done this before and have info to share? I think we're 59 days out today!

 

[degrapevine]

Hey, everybody! Only 8 weeks to go ... If you are interested in joining the FE exchange, please let me know. On such a short cruise, it's really easy (you can choose just to do just one gift per stateroom) and the kids just love it. Also, we are planning a meet at 3 PM on embarkation day in the Promenade Lounge and would really like to see as many families as possible show up.

Suzy, I'm so sorry to hear about your MIL and hope that you can look forward to the cruise as a means of rest for you. It will be here before we know it!

Welcome to the new cruisers posting - I added you to our growing list and hope to meet many of you. Any questions you have, please let us know. There are quite a few seasoned cruisers on this thread.

ychcjbn1 - I took my DD (then 6) on the Dolphin Encounter in Nassau. It is truly a once in a lifetime thing and the pictures we had taken are still on her wall. She loves to tell everyone how she swam (even though we just did the encounter, not the swim) with the dolphins. I would definitely take your 7 year old to do the encounter. The younger ones may not be quite ready (I don't remember the minimum age - They may just have to observe?) and it might not be worth the $. Some of the younger kids when we went (granted it was Dec.) didn't want to get in the water (you stand on a platform, but there's really no rail to hold on to) and weren't really enjoying it. But for my DD, it was amazing!

I sure hope we have an uneventful cruise compared to those on this weekend's cruises both leaving and arriving at PC. What a mess! But it looks like DCL is doing all it can to insure the safety of their passengers and ship as well as keep everyone happy. We missed CC on our cruise this past Dec. and know how disappointed our fellow cruisers were. I really feel for the people that were supposed to leave today and missed a day as well as visiting a whole port. But you can't control the weather!

Tarabra - My kids would love to be stuck in a snow storm right now! They are complaining (my two younger ones, not the moody teenager!) how everyone in the country is getting snow except for us. We are getting the cold (or at least cold for FL in the 30's), but no snow. They keep asking if we can drive to the panhandle to see some snow. Maybe if it was a bit closer. Oh well, you can't always get what you want, that's for sure!

Happy Valentine's Day to all ... and happy cruise planning!
Rose

 

[Tarabra]

Hey Rose ~ is your last name Devine? I have friends' whose last name is Devine. Actually the girl's last name was Devine and her husband took HER last name because it was so cool. Needless to say, they are divorced and he still has Devine as his last name. His first wife's name was Julia Devine and his 2nd wife is now Julie Devine! Definitely odd....but that's just the way this guy is. You'd expect nothing less.

Your kids can have the snow...we still have 13 inches out there. But it's so pretty. The roads are clear so it's not biggie.

As far as Nassau...last time we didn't even get off the ship. We did a double dip and didn't get a sea day, so we used that day as a sea day. My son was 9 months so we didn't want to be dragging two strollers around. I was looking at the Hilton. http://www.bahamascruiseexcursions.com/NassauHiltonResortPass.htm They have a day pass for the beach and pool and $30 food and drink voucher. It would cost us $80 for the day. The kids are free at this age. It's within walking distance of the ship so hopefully pretty safe considering the recent armed robberies on Nassau. I'm a little leery about leaving the ship. We'll play it by ear.

 

[ychcjbn1]

We are only taking our certified birth certificates and driver's license for this cruise. Can someone confirm that we DON'T need passports? It would cost hundreds of dollars for our party of 7 to get these. My mom is so afraid that we do need them, but DH spoke directly with a Disney agent who said that was all we need. I just wondered if any of you are only taking your birth certificates instead of passports. That would ease her mind and hopefully she can stop worrying about it. Thanks!

 

[zalansky]

We are only taking our certified birth certificates and driver's license for this cruise. Can someone confirm that we DON'T need passports? It would cost hundreds of dollars for our party of 7 to get these. My mom is so afraid that we do need them, but DH spoke directly with a Disney agent who said that was all we need. I just wondered if any of you are only taking your birth certificates instead of passports. That would ease her mind and hopefully she can stop worrying about it. Thanks!

My husband and I have passports from when we went to Mexico so we'll use those, but my kids will only have birth certificates. That's all you need. People will post on the cruise thread that you need a passport to leave the country if there is a medical emergency etc., but what is the likelihood that is really going to happen?

 

[zalansky]

We leave 7 weeks from today!

 

[degrapevine]

Hi, all!

Yes, Tara - My last name is Devine, although we don't have any family in Ohio! It is my husband's last name, decidedly less Italian than my maiden name, Brescia, but much easier to pronounce.

We had a high of 77 today, so I guess our "Winter" spell is over. I know my DH would hate having to shovel snow, but it would be so nice to see the white stuff for once!

On past cruises to Nassau, we've done the Dolphin Encounter, Pirate Museum, Ardastra Gardens, City Tour, and the Atlantis Aquarium and Dig. We live so close to Aquatica and Adventure Island that it just seems silly to pay so much to do the water slides at Atlantis and Castaway Cay day is enough beach for us. The last few times, we've just gotten off the boat to go to the Welcome Center, Rum Cake place, and a bit of shopping. This trip, I think we'll do the same for a few hours, then head back to enjoy the ship. I've had enough of Nassau!

We've been on eight cruises with just birth certificates and haven't had any problems. For a family of five, passports are a chunk of $ that we can spend on other things. So we are just sailing without them for now until they are absolutely required (or we go to Europe!).

Less than 50 days to go ... Please let me know if you are interested in the FE exchange. There are just two cabins right now and the more, the merrier!

Rose

 

[suzyqn]

Hi All! I'm back and decided to check my DCL reservation. It looks like we have been assigned a room. Has anyone else received their room reservation? I am a bit bummed because we received great upgrades the last 2 cruises and it looks like this time we are assigned a Cat. 11. (booked Cat. 11 GTY) I am just hoping that all 4 of us fit ok since we are unsure if we are going to use a pack-n-play.

Now that it is almost March, I am really look forward to planning our trip.

 

[zalansky]

Welcome back Suzy!

I just checked our reservation and we were also assigned a room. We booked a GTY Cat 10 and thats what we got. I am happy about that because I wanted a 10....however, we are on deck 1 where there are not many rooms at all and on the same deck as where everyone tenders. I am not too sure about this!

 

[suzyqn]

We were on Deck 1 last spring. Reviews said our room would be a bit noisy and it was at times but it was not because of people but some machine sounding thing. The halls were very quiet and because we were midship no one came through that area to enter/leave the ship. (forgot my cruise terms this morning )

I wonder if any more changes will be made with room assignments. This seems early to me. I think we received our room assignments exactly 30 days before our cruise last time. I don't know how long ago our room was assigned as I haven't checked in at least a month.

 

[U2FanHfx]

Hi All,

We were just informed by our Travel Agent that we were upgraded from a Cat 6 to a Cat 5 stateroom. First time ever upgraded for us even if it is only a small one

Regs,

CJM

 

[zalansky]

U2FanHfx - Way to go, congrats!

suzy - thanks for the reassurance. Every little bit helps!

 

[TaylorsDad]

Hello, anyone else doing a back to back on the wonder? I dont know much about this process, but we had never cruised before and thought with the Kids sail free promotion this would give Me, DD, and DW a chance to see if we like cruising.
Anyone else here doing the dolphin encounter this cruise? We booked the early one, hope the water is warm. I hope DD likes the encounter, it truly seems like a wonderful experience. Any tips from you experienced cruisers would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Angel51201]

We've booked the dolphin encounter too. I'm with you, hope it's WARM. I'm a little concerned, but looking forward to it.

 

[Angel51201]

Rose, will you please update us to room 5622? Thanks!

Angel51201
The Snyder Family
Diane and DD8 (Brianna)
Stateroom #2576
FE Gift Exchange and Cruise Group Meet