April 12, 2008, 4-12-08, 4/12/08 Eastern Magic

[hannahguad]

Just checking in from Arizona! I have been reading all the messages and such, just haven't had a chance to say anything. I can't believe that it is almost time. I am starting to get in the beginning of a panic mode!! We are done with Spring Break, so now it is time to get down to business!
I have been wanting to tell everyone a bit about us. My name is Karen, DH-Mark, DM-Linda, DD- Hannah. This is our first cruise. I am looking for a bit of help from fellow Dis'ers. My daughter is 10, she has Cerebral Palsy. She is very high functioning though. She is moderately delayed, but, looks like a normal child. She is extremely excited to be going to the kids club. My problem is-if she is not asked and encouraged to participate in activities, she will just sit and watch. She is very sweet and just VERY shy. Does anyone have a 'mother hen' that she can meet up? She has many friends at school that know how she is, they just encourage her to come and join the fun and also know she is a bit.....slow....and needs some extra support.
Thanks everyone for listening-this cruise is mainly for her and I want her to experience everything that is going on!

Karen

 

[aprince&princess]

Hi Karen, my DD Kayla is also 10. We are planning a meet the first day by the family pool at 2 or 3pm. We will verify the time when we get closer. We originally thought 3pm but were thinking if we moved it to 2pm that that would give us more time. I think it would be great if you guys could meet us because that might help your daughter get to know the other girls. There are quite a few 9 & 10 year old girls from this group. We were part of five families that met at an aquarium here in CT so that some of the kids could meet and the girls seem to really hit it off. They had no problem not having met before this and they had a lot of fun hanging out, so I would think if she meets some of them the first day that would help. The girls all seemed really nice and friendly.

 

[Skuba2]

Welcome to the fun Karen. Your daughter shouldn't feel left out at all. The counselors there are really, really good at getting those quieter kids involved. They don't leave anyone out. And, I am sure with all the girls in that age group, your daughter will be just fine. My Jen gets along with pretty much anyone no matter what the age or walk of life as I am sure the other girls do from what I have been seeing and reading. Would she like to join the email group? It was a little slow, but is starting to pick up a bit. Just pm me if you want to. I help Jen with her emails. She doesn't know all the functions of the real internet yet. So, I set it up for her and then I tell her to let me send it.

My son went on his first Disney cruise at 5. He has experienced is own set of delays in life and I was so scared about putting him in the clubs. At that age, he was still stuck in the "play by myself" mode and the "throw a fit if someone touched me" mode. I wasn't really sure if he could handle it. Well, he did and he had a blast.

Deb

 

[cindyd1@optonline.ne]

Welcome Karen!: I have a daughter who is 9 oh 9 1/2 as she likes to say!! and her cousin, Gabi who is 10. I'm sure your daughter will do just fine. There are quite a few girls in this age group.

 

[Jeanne62]

For all the moms of surly, disgruntled teens:

My boys will immediately start the sports challenges, I'm sure, and our teen girls are extremely outgoing and friendly. In fact, they are so ready to have fun that even the 16-year-olds are willing to dress up as princesses one night!

Wow, I wonder if my 16 year-old daughter would be willing dress as a princess! What are they planning to wear?

-Jeanne

 

[Jeanne62]

We have a car picking us up at 10:30am from the airport Hyatt, but I think Tom wanted to see if they would pick us up at 9:30.

We are leaving from the Hyatt as well, but we were planning to take the DCL bus. Has anyone ever done this? I'm assuming that we won't have to wait a long time....not sure though.

-Jeanne

 

[dsnyfangoofy2]

Hi, Karen! I just sent you a private message and called you "Linda." Oops! That was the name I remembered from your message while I was writing the pm. Hey -- I'm old -- no memory!

Anyway, I sent you the e-mail for my 10-year-old niece who will be sailing with us, and told you about the group Deb (skuba2) has put together. Have Hannah join in. I think these 10-year-old girls are going to rule the roost!

Jeanne62-- my sis-in-law has a friend who has a business making princess dresses. She's not Disney licensed, so they are not called "Ariel" or "Belle," but they are quite similar. I'm not sure how much they cost if you don't have the "friend discount" but for us it worked out well. If your DD is interested, pm me and I can give you the ordering info.

Bev

 

[dsnyfangoofy2]

OUR DOCS FINALLY ARRIVED!!! They TA in San Diego thought her supervisor had mailed them last week, but she hadn't. I didn't think they'd EVER come!!

Meanwhile, 7 of us have to drive from Utah to San Diego for the niece's wedding on Saturday. We drive all afternoon and 1/2 the night Friday, wedding Sat morning, recep Sat night, and back to Utah on Sunday. Fun weekend, huh?

Had I known how long it would take to get the docs, I could have picked them up myself in San Diego on Saturday!

Bev

 

[Skuba2]

Has everyone filled out their online forms yet? I did with some difficulty. Just so you don't spend the hour I did trying to figure it all out, I will post my problem and answer.

When you get to the credit card information, you have to check all the boxes in your party for the "authorized" part which I think is first. Then you check only those who you want to give charging privileges for on the next part. It seems stupid. I guess the first part acknowledges that they are a part of your party and you will pay for them and the costs they incur and the next part says that these individuals can create their own costs and you will pay.

Also, make sure you print out the signature page. We went through everything last time and left the page in the printer. Had to re-fill out all the docs manually.

Deb

 

[Mduff]

Those online docs DO take forever, don't they??? I made sure to put the signed signature page with all my other stuff!

I just got back from Walmart where I picked up all those extra goodies I needed - aloe cream, pillowcases, polo shirts for DS, etc.... Does anyone else feel like they're spending as much getting ready as they are for the cruise???

I have a quick Palo question - I'm very confused - do the guys need jackets, or is a button-down shirt ok? And if so, do they need a tie? I keep hearing different answers

Two weeks from now I'm on a plane!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[cvspsych]

O.K. so I just keep thinking of more and more questions as the time closes in. I find myself driving and thinking about the cruise. I have resorted to keeping a list in my pocketbook so that I can write things down and not forget them.

My latest question is about towels (boy, do I need to get a life!). Anyway, do they provide towels for the pool? What about towels when you go off the ship and go to a beach? Should we bring our own beach towels?

Disney cruise veterans please respond with your wisdom on this.

Thanks Bonnie

 

[Mduff]

O.K. so I just keep thinking of more and more questions as the time closes in. I find myself driving and thinking about the cruise. I have resorted to keeping a list in my pocketbook so that I can write things down and not forget them.

My latest question is about towels (boy, do I need to get a life!). Anyway, do they provide towels for the pool? What about towels when you go off the ship and go to a beach? Should we bring our own beach towels?

Disney cruise veterans please respond with your wisdom on this.

Thanks Bonnie

Bonnie - no need to get a life - enjoy the Disney-obsessed one you already have
I lay awake in bed last night picturing myself packing and what I need to bring

I am a cruise newbie but I remember reading they give you towels on the boat, and also when you disembark but don't expect a bath sheet :0

 

[aprince&princess]

Bonnie - no need to get a life - enjoy the Disney-obsessed one you already have
I lay awake in bed last night picturing myself packing and what I need to bring

I am a cruise newbie but I remember reading they give you towels on the boat, and also when you disembark but don't expect a bath sheet :0

I remember seeing that towels are provided. Although I'm not sure how it works.

When we cruised RCCL the pool towels were left in our room, we got all the way to the pool and found out that you could only take new ones from the bin if you if you were exchanging the ones from your room. Of course this was the first day and I went the wrong way off the elevator, I practically circled the whole boat to get to the room.

I think you are right about the towels for excursions, someone (Oh Deb or Gina?) will let us know. Again I had read that here before our last cruise so I thought we would get towels getting off the boat, but we didn't, wrong cruise line.

 

[Skuba2]

Towels are provided for on the pier at Castaway Cay and for an excursion that needed them. The reason I say excursions separate because I believe they will have them at the meet place. As far as just going off on your own, they will have a steel bin with some in them. They will also have an empty bin for when you come back on board.

At the pool, there are "trash looking" bins---teak wood--that open like a cabinette for new towels and you "throw away" the used ones. There may also be a towel draped over the lounger backs.

Palo is supposed to be jacket required. Whether they are hard about it or not is a gamble. During the evening, the women tend to be in dresses and the men in suit and tie. During brunch, it is more resort dress with could be more kahki, polo and jacket. At dinner, the lights are dimmed and the place is very romantically lit.

Deb

 

[cindyd1@optonline.ne]

Deb..So if you are doing your own excursion will they provide towels to you?

 

[Skuba2]

Deb..So if you are doing your own excursion will they provide towels to you?

You would just pick them up on your way off of the ship just as you would if you were going off to a beach. You can grab two if you want. They are a lot larger than your room towels and they discourage you from taking those. Don't bring your own towel--it is just a waste of luggage space. We got a towel from Disney last time as a castaway club gift---it never left our room.

Anyone heard what the new castaway club gift is this year? For those who don't know--the castaway club is the benefit for returning passengers. So, next time the first timers cruise on Disney, you will automatically be a member and get a card in the mail within the following year. Besides the earlier ressies, you also get a reception party one night, priority boarding behind the concierge level, and a special gift waiting in your room. The funny thing is that Disney is become so popular, that the number of returning passengers has really increased. The reception used to be just a handful of people so I heard.

Deb

 

[gfolchick]

Deb,
The Castaway Club gift is a black tote bag with 2 cups with lids and some smaller items-notepad, plastic stack. I believe there are mesh pockets on either side to hold water bottles. It looks nice from the pictures I've seen. I'm going to use it for my beach bag instead of toting another one down.

Regarding the towel question, I think that the rack of towels is only outside the gangplank on Castaway Cay day. For St. Martin and St. Thomas you may need to take them from the pool area. I've also packed a Neat Sheet for a "home base" on the beach. It is really lightweight and it keeps the sand out of our towels, bags and shoes. Just a suggestion. This is more so for the other island beaches if you don't pay for a chair or two. Castaway Cay we've never had a problem with finding a chair. We usually head farther away down the family beach.

I agree about spending as much prepping for the cruise as the cruise itself. I have found a bunch of bargains but it is still adding up. I just came back from the doctor who gave me a bit of a hard time about my weight so I told him I would deal with it after the cruise. I wasn't going to make a promise I knew I wouldn't/couldn't keep. He did tell me to go easy on the late night snacking. Hmnm...we'll see. With early dinner that one is hard to promise too.

 

[cindyd1@optonline.ne]

THanks Deb!

 

[cvspsych]

Thanks for your prompt responses to my towel question. You are the best!!!

 

[aprince&princess]

The neat sheet is a great idea. Last year we spread out our towels to sit on but then they were really sandy when we wanted to dry off with them. I picked a beach excursion that included lunch and a chair this time for St Maarten and in St Thomas we are doing an excursion to St John to snorkel, which we might want the neat sheet for.