April 26 - May 3, 2008 Caribbean Crazy Cruisers

[ohiominnie]

Congrats to the Ohio State fans on making it to the National Championship game. Very cool!

This has been a very very strange year indeed! We are excited to be number 1!!

 

[speakupjc]

Yes we are!!!! Go Bucks!!!!!!

OH

 

[WDWLVR]

Good morning Cruisers





We sail in 20 weeks!
​

Sorry this is so late going up. We're down at WDW and were out the door before 6:30 this morning.

 

[dreamcometrue]

hey everyone!!! I am SO sorry I haven't been around. I am afraid I have gotten a bit too addicted to the new Pirates of the Caribbean online game. Plus with getting ready for Christmas, it's been crazy around here!

I was also offered a new job, it's a full time position, and it was a very very difficult decision for me. I love my current job. It's only part time but I absolutely adore everyone I work with. I get along with every single person there. I wasn't even sure if I was ready for a full time job just yet. However, I ended up taking it, because something like this doesn't fall into my lap all the time. I still feel very sad about leaving the other school though. I won't start at the new job until January 7th, after christmas break! I really hope my new boss will be as understanding about me leaving to go on the cruise as the old one. I work at an elementary school (current and new job) and we are really not supposed to take vacation during school.

Anyway, I am so excited to see the 20 week countdown!! It will fly by after the holidays!!

I am deciding between the Dec. 5, 2009 St. Croix Eastern cruise or the following week, Dec. 12th, 2009 Western. Plan on rebooking onboard in April!

 

[wdwluvrs]

We have been busy with decorating for the holidays and starting gift shopping. we have learned the old saying the only difference between Men and Boys is the price of there toys is true for our two sons at least. we will start getting the finishing touches we need for the cruise after the first of the year. hope everyone has a great week.

 

[WDWLVR]

Good morning everyone! We are back after a wonderful trip to WDW! Next up is this cruise! I was doing kind of a day by day report on some other threads but since this one is moving so slow I figured I would just do highlights.

Wednesday 12/5 - didn't sleep well the night before with all the reports of snow. I was so afraid our flight would be cancelled. To make matters worse the snowblower broke on Mark as he tried to clear some of the snow. Well the snow was our friend. Got to the airport and were offered an upgrade to first class for a really low rate. We grabbed it. Due to cancelled flights our plane was also upgraded to a 767 which meant our first class seats were the ones that fully reclined with leg rests and blankets. Nice. Great flight and we soon found ourselves pulling into Boardwalk - we are home! Check in was quick but we had a wait a couple of hours for the room. Hung around the resort a little and then went and made a run to Publix for supplies. After check in we chilled in the room for a while then headed off to Epcot. Did dinner at Chefs de France which was a first for us and enjoyed it. Checked out World Showcase, then watched the Lights of Winter (one of our favorites) and headed back to the room. We were able to see Illuminations from our room (we have a Boardwalk view). Excellent!

Thursday 12/6 - Started our with breakfast in the room and then headed out to Animal Kingdom. We went straight to the safari which was wonderful. We then did the trails and then headed over to see the Nemo Musical. We love this show. We stopped at the new Yak and Yeti for lunch (did the take-out side) and then back to the resort. We went to the DVC Member Mixer at 3pm. This is a great party put on by DVC and we were able to meet up with a number of fellow DISers including some fellow cruisers from past cruises and some friends we are cruising with in September. After that it was off to the Magic Kingdom for dinner at Tony's and then Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party. The castle this year is amazing and we really enjoyed the party. The only thing missing was Karen, Mike, KT and Nick who we spent last year at the parade with.

Friday 12/7 - Started today with breakfast at Spoodles on the Boardwalk. Then we headed off to the Magic Kingdom. We did the new Laugh Factory which we really enjoyed. A few more rides and some shoppping and then we headed off to Epcot. We had a 2 pm lunch reservation at Le Cellier as part of the Candlelight Processional package. This is always a favorite of ours. Our Candlelight Processional was the 5 pm show and featured Monique Coleman from High School Musical. She did a great job and this show is always so moving and really gets me in the holiday spirit. We went back to the villa for a while and then headed back over about 8:30 to catch Illuminations in person.

Saturday 12/8 - This day started our real early as we were at the bus stop at 6:30. We were headed over to Ft. Wilderness for an early breakfast and then the Segway tour. Knowing how long it look last year to get over here (sorry Karen) we planned for about an hour and a half. Well we got a bus driver who when we said we needed to go to Ft. Wilderness took us right to the bus stop by Trails End (we expected to be dropped at the main enterence at best). So we had time before breakfast to check out the ranch area and the ponies. We then had a great breakfast and met up for the Segway tour at 8:30. This is a fantastic tour. It was two hours long of which only 1/2 hour was instruction. That left 1 1/2 hours to be on the trails. We went all over Ft. Wilderness and even went as far as Wilderness Lodge. Fun! After that we spent the rest of the morning/early afternoon on a tour of some of the resorts to see the holiday decorations. We did Wilderness Lodge, Contemporary, Poly (with a stop at Kona Cafe for lunch), Grand Floridian, Beach Club, Yacht Club and back to the Boardwalk. Fantastic. Unfortunately by this time my ankle had pretty much locked up so we stayed in the rest of the day/night. I spent time out on our balcony reading and people watching. We did leftovers for dinner and agains saw Illuminations from the room.

Sunday 12/9 - Went to Mass at Mary Queen of the Universe and then hit the road down to Vero Beach. What a beautiful resort. We got an inn room on the 4th (top floor) with a straight on ocean view room. Only down side was the red tide going on. It irritates your throat so we did a lot of coughing and didn't do any walking on the beach. Still it was a great day to just relax.

Monday 12/10 - Total relaxation with breakfast at the resort. In the afternoon we toured the area and then took in a movie.

Tuesday 12/11 - Up early to get back to the airport. The ride to the airport was super smooth as was check-in. No upgrades this time but we were happy just to have a flight as many were cancelled to/from O'Hare yesterday.

Now we are home and heading back to work. Hope you enjoyed our recap.

Looking forward to 2008 and our April cruise!

 

[wdwluvrs]

Mary nice to read about your WDW holiday trip are you going to post any resort photos. Eileen hope to have Dinner at Chefs de France the saturday our cruise pulls back in.

 

[ohiominnie]

Mary, so glad you had a wonderful time!!

This is how bored we were while you were gone:

http://www.pediascribe.com/20071212/i-laughed-myself-silly/

 

[WDWLVR]

Good morning everyone!


Karen - love the video.

Mike - no pictures yet but maybe this weekend I can get Mark to upload some. Did you want to see Boardwalk or Vero?

 

[WDWLVR]

Good morning Cruisers





We sail in 19 weeks!
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Woo Hoo - we are in the teens!

 

[ohiominnie]

We sail in 19 weeks!
​

19??? WOW!

 

[wdwluvrs]

Wow finally into the teens for our cruise. We are getting snow now they are calling for a pretty good storm tonight my son and I just shoveled the driveway over a inch thought we would get a start and not have so much to shovel in the morning we plan to go out again around 10pm. Mary it would just be nice to see the holiday decorations at WDW.

 

[speakupjc]

I loved the video of KT. She is a great girl and I totally enjoyed meeting her along with everyone else at our meet in Columbus. Are you guys excited about Ohio State playing in the National Championship? Are any of you going to New Orleans? All I wanted for Christmas was a trip and ticket to the game. Guess what - We are going. We leave out of Columbus on 1/5 and get back on 1/8. I can hardly wait. Go Bucks!!!!

 

[WDWLVR]

Here are some highlights from our trip:

This is the centerpiece of the Beach Club lobby

Menu of ingredients:

Animal Kingdom tree:

Grand Floridian tree:

Contemporary Monorail tree:

Epcot Lights of Winter

Epcot Candlelight Processional w/Monique Coleman

Boardwalk display

The castle - beautiful as always

Mark and I at the DVC Merry Member Mixer

Mark and I on the Segway tour at Ft. Wilderness

Tree at Wilderness Lodge

Tree at the Yacht Club

Wooden Soldiers (my favorites) from the Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Parade

 

[WDWLVR]

A few more from the Vero portion of our trip:

The view from our room

Their holiday display

A little visitor on the ramp down to the beach

 

[wdwluvrs]

very nice photos Mary who is the photographer you or Mark. We made it threw the nor'easter but i did get a 4 am call to come into school and help clear the snow away this morning

 

[tinkerone]

Here are some highlights from our trip:

This is the centerpiece of the Beach Club lobby

Menu of ingredients:

Animal Kingdom tree:

Grand Floridian tree:

Contemporary Monorail tree:

Epcot Lights of Winter

Epcot Candlelight Processional w/Monique Coleman

Boardwalk display

The castle - beautiful as always

Mark and I at the DVC Merry Member Mixer

Mark and I on the Segway tour at Ft. Wilderness

Tree at Wilderness Lodge

Tree at the Yacht Club

Wooden Soldiers (my favorites) from the Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Parade

They are great pics Mary, thanks for sharing! I am so evious.

 

[WDWLVR]

Good morning Cruisers





We sail in 18 weeks!
​

 

[WDWLVR]

Good morning everyone. Another Saturday - another week closer to our cruise.

I realize I forgot to answer Mike's question about who is the photographer. Actually is it both of us. We tend to hand the camera back and forth. For example Mark took most of the tree pictures but I took the ones of the Lights of Winter and the Candlelight Processional. Then of course since we are in two of the they had to be taken by someone else.

 

[ohiominnie]

Good morning everyone. Another Saturday - another week closer to our cruise.

I realize I forgot to answer Mike's question about who is the photographer. Actually is it both of us. We tend to hand the camera back and forth. For example Mark took most of the tree pictures but I took the ones of the Lights of Winter and the Candlelight Processional. Then of course since we are in two of the they had to be taken by someone else.

Bear?