April 16 2005? Eastern Magic? 4/16/05

[spoon2003]

OK, it just occur to me that my kids have no formal outfits. Their Christmas outfits would be too warm for April so I started to panic about how much I'll have to spend for outfits worn once or twice. Then I realize that this year's Easter is early - late March!! I can probably pick up something after Easter on sale!!

Sue

 

[princessdaisy]

HI Sue!

I am sure you will have no problems find the outfits on sale after Easter! Thanks for reminding me out finding a new dress for my dd who will be turning 13 on the cruise...she has a few formal type dresses but she is growing like a weed and they probably won't fit by then

I just off my REAS times for brunch, dinner, tea to my TA. I hope I get my times. I have the tea scheduled for Sun at 3:30...Sue, I would be happy to have you join me! if that day and time work for you. Anyone else is also welcome to come have a cuppa tea.

I am off to check out the excursions for my dh & dd...they want to snorkel.

 

[Patriotsfan0113]

Hi Everyone!!!

We just booked our excursions!!!! !!! We finally decided to try the Golden Eagle Catamaran in St. Martin, that sounded so cool and the St. John Trunk Bay Beach and Snorkel Tour in St. Thomas/St. John, not so cool but we have to see Trunk Bay. We are so excited since this is our first time on the Eastern Cruise. Has anyone tried these? I read the reviews for them both. Anyone else doing these?

 

[princessdaisy]

Those excursions sound great! I will be making our reservations today for the Captian Nautical speed boat/snorkel excursion on St. Thomas and I think we might do Orient beach on St. Martin on our own. DH & dd will be doing the excursion and I get to stay on the boat with ds(3).

Just paid off our cruise last night! Wahoo!!

ps. Did anyone buy insurance? This will be the first cruise where we actually bought ins. just in case with all that snorkeling

 

[spoon2003]

Patriotsfan - Bet I know what you gonna be doing tomorrow!! Go Pats!!

I am thinking about the Golden Catamaran as well but haven't book yet. One reason is that I don't swim, from what I've heard, the boat stops away from shore and you have to swim to the beach. That part worries me a bit. I think in St. Thomas we're going to do it on our own. Paradise Point Tram, Coral World and Coki Beach. Hopefully a little time left for some shopping.

Princessdaisy - congratulations on paying off the cruise! I need to put in my paperwork to get money back from my dependance account at work. That's my way of saving for our vacation even though we suppose to use it for child care (we paid child care out of pocket already so when I get this chunk of money back, it's our vacation money).

It's getting exciting! I've been obsessed with the boards lately!

Sue from Boston

 

[CTFamilyCruisers]

I just found this site and am getting really excited. We actually booked our cruise in December 2003 - 14 months ago!!!! We are in Connecticut - about to get pounded by 20+ inches of snow. Wish we were on that cruise right now! I love this site - and this thread - because this is our first Disney Cruise. We are staying in a Category 4 - with our 2 kids, DS9 and DD5. My son makes friends really easily and is looking forward to the Oceaneers Club. My daughter is a bit shy and takes a while to break away from mom & dad. Since this is school vacation week for most of us, I am hoping she'll meet lots of friends. Anyone have kids their ages? Also, can any of you more experienced cruisers share any tips? I'll keep searching this site - it is a wealth of information - but this is only my 2nd cruise - first with the kids. DH and I went on a cruise to So Caribbean for our honeymoon a LONG, LONG, time ago!!! LOL.

 

[princessdaisy]

Welcome aboard! I am sure there will be lots of kiddos on the ship for your dd to make friends with It is so exciting that our cruise date will be here soon!! Wahoo! This is my familly's second cruise as we did the Western in Jan 04. If you have any ?'s about Disney Magic, ples fire away...there are lots of people on this board who can help out

ps. Please send me some of that snow...it is 83 over here in San Diego & it's Feb for goodness sakes ;-)

Sue: Thanks! it was pretty hard writing out that last check! LOL! but it will be worth it! I know how you feel about swimming...when I called DCL excursions, they told me the Captain Nautical speed boat stops my honeymoon by witha depth of 30 to 45 feet okay..."gee, I didn't know you could pet sharks on this one" the rep said laughing. LOL!

 

[Tylerandalliesmom]

We too are from CT (Cromwell) and traveling on the 16th! My DD will be almost 5 and is quite sociable! My DS will be 7 and likes playing with the older kids at Daycare! My son is really in to under the sea creatures. We are going to do the dolphin encounter in St Martin & probably do St Thomas on our own by renting a car. Still up in the air on it though! Too much fun planning!

 

[CTFamilyCruisers]

Small world! We are from Wethersfield. We know another family from Wethersfield that will be on the same cruise - but they have 2 older girls. I hear this is a popular cruise for New Englanders.

When are you flying down? We are heading down on Friday night 4/15 and staying at the Hyatt at the airport.

The kids are getting really excited to go... what grades are your kids in? My DS is in 4th grade and gets along with everyone - especially if they have a Gameboy. He'll walk up to total strangers and swap stories about what level they are on... etc! My daughter is in Kindergarten and just takes a little while getting comfortable and then you would never believe she is sometimes shy!

This snow is making me count down the days. I can't wait!!!

 

[Tylerandalliesmom]

Very Cool! If it ever warms up we should try to meet at Michaels Park and have the kids meet before the cruise so they have a friendly face to look for! We are leaving the night before also (Delta afternoon flight with a stop in between) I was going to have DS go to school (first grade)for half day. Not sure how the school feels about missing school for vacation so I'm whimping out! DS loves gameboy, Playstation, Harry Potter etc. DD will be attending kindergarten this September. Very much a girly girl and wise beyond her years! We know quite a few people from Wethersfield...( I grew up in R Hill & DH grew up in Newington - Class of 86.)
I wanted to stay at the Hyatt for convenience but I am using my credit card miles for a free night at the Holiday Inn. I am a little nervous from some of the reviews but for one night I'm sure it's tolerable! My two kids and your daughter will be in the same Kids club group. I am trying to talk it up so they get excited to go to the clubs and maybe Mom will get a little quiet time on the Verandah!

 

[CTFamilyCruisers]

That sounds great! My DS is very excited that I have "met" other cruisers online and I know it will help my DD to see a familiar face.

We managed to get a direct flight on Song - which has free satellite TV at each seat for the kids!!!!!!! I may actually get to read a book on the plane!!!! We were originally scheduled to fly Delta through Atlanta (it was MUCH cheaper than the Song flight) but they made a schedule change. I called Delta and told them the departure time was too tight for me - and they moved me to the direct Song flight at no extra charge! It sounded like they don't typically do this - but they were very accomodating. I think our original flight was supposed to leave at 5:45 and they moved it to 4:30/5:00 - in the end we got a 6:30 on Song that gets into Orlando around 9:30. So much better travelling with the kids without a connection. If you are on Delta, and they have changed your schedule since you initially booked, you may want to try it. Who knows, you may get lucky!

 

[Tylerandalliesmom]

Oh No I will go check it now...I wanted the flight on Song but it was 3 times as much...maybe we'll get lucky too!

 

[CTFamilyCruisers]

Make sure when you call you tell them the original flight time was okay, but the new time is too close. Ask to be reassigned. This, I believe they will do automatically. When you get past that hurdle (they transferred me to someone else) request the Song flight. Then just sit back and see what they say. The guy on the phone told me "We don't usually let you switch from a connecting flight to a direct flight, [pause] Let me see what I can do." 5 minutes later he came back on the line and said we were all set.

Good luck!

 

[Toni Adkins]

Hi everyone,

I made excursion reservations last week for the "Under Two Flags Tour" in St. Martin, but I'm concerned that we won't have enough shopping time on The French side. Has anyone taken this tour and stayed behind to shop and taken a cab back?

I think we're going on our own in St. Thomas, probably doing either Magen's Beach or Coki Beach and then some shopping and exploring in town.

My dd(14) is very excited about making new friends onboard and finding someone to hang out with. Does anyone have any teen girls around her age that would be willing to "meet" online before the cruise?

I managed to find my dd a formal dress last fall for a really good price and am keeping my fingers crossed that she hasn't grown any since then because it was the perfect length when we bought it. She's thrilled to have her first formal dress.

I'm online as often as possible checking to see if the airline prices have come down. They seldom do from our tiny airport. We can get a good price on a direct flight out of Columbus, Oh, but its over a 21/2 hour drive away and the returning flight doesn't leave til 9:45 in the evening. What on earth do you do at the airport for 12 hours? We could go to WDW for the day, but what do we do with our luggage. Oh, well. We'll probably end up driving anyway.

Toni

 

[spoon2003]

If you do decide to fly, get a one way rental from the port back to MCO. Then you can have the car for the day to do whatever, Downtown Disney, outlet shopping and dinner? I have a one day/way rental with Budget for under $40. That's less than Disney transport for the 4 of us.

Sue

 

[Toni Adkins]

Thats a good idea, Sue. We had considered (if we decided to fly) renting a car when we arrived, but it seemed kinda silly to rent one and leave it sit in the parking lot all week. I hadn't considered renting one for the day. Is Budget located at the airport? We've flown to Orlando in the past, but always used Tiffany Towncar and Disney transportation, so we didn't need a car.

Toni

 

[spoon2003]

Hi all,
Trying to find a email pal for my DD11 (5th grade) for this cruise. My Dd is on the reserve side, totally unfashionable , favorite clothings are jeans, Life is Good t shirt and a grey hoodie!!! Hobbies are reading, drawing, manga, GameCube, Gameboy, Neopets, basketball and soccer. If you have a DD or DS with similar interests and would like to email before the cruise, please send me a PM.

Thanks

Sue

 

[spoon2003]

For those of you that are arriving early and have a car, you may want to check out the Character outlet stores for any DCL items. On our last trip, we found the pewter color DCL picture frame and a snowglobe at the outlet for a lot less. (Unfortunately the snowglobe broke on our trip home).

Sue

 

[CTFamilyCruisers]

I have a DS9 who is dying for someone to talk to, too. He may be a bit younger than your DD is interested in chatting with, but I thought I would send a note anyway. He is an outgoing, funny, intelligent 4th grader who enjoys anything Gamecube or Playstation, reading, writing, soccer and baseball. He has a lot of older friends - the 13 y/o boy next door and he play all the time.

I tried to get a kids thread going for this very reason - I'll try to post a link - not sure if I know how to do this. Maybe if they start chatting there, others will join in. Or, you can send me a PM and we can get them talking.

I noticed your "Red Sox" reference, too. Warning, the men in my house are Yankees fans, but not to worry, the women are die hard Red Sox lovers!!!! Are you from Boston?

 

[CTFamilyCruisers]

OOPS! Forgot the link to the kids thread. If this doesn't work, search Cruise meets for 4/16/05 Kids Thread.


http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=724207