April 29, 2012 ~ Aloha! ~ Inagural Wonder to Hawaii-Part 3

[aan1701]

Isn't your Mom linked to your reservation ? Wouldn't she be able to board when you can ? At least that's what I was told when my friend talked to Disney.

Not according to what DCL is telling me. Looks like they still can't get the story straigt so I decided to err on the side if caution.

 

[Pixiegran]

Thank you Alex. I love the way you make clear statements when you answer questions...so easy to understand

 

[Mickey&JoshNut]

We live here in San Diego, so let me know if you need any help in terms of knowing things to do, where to go, places to eat, etc...

Would you be willing to assist a fellow Dis'er????? If so, I have a few question regarding the San Diego Zoo.

I noticed that Southern California Grayline Tours offers a bus tour to the San Diego Zoo departing at 9:15 am.....I was thinking of surprising my Mom with a day trip to the Zoo....she has always talked about going....Would it be worth it to go? or would we not really have much time since I'm not really sure how far San Diego is from Disneyland...BTW we are staying at the DLH prior to the cruise and would probably be going on a Thursday or Friday...

Any advice you could give would be greatly appreciated

 

[aan1701]

Thank you Alex. I love the way you make clear statements when you answer questions...so easy to understand

Please don't take this the wrong way. I am in no way upset or anything. First it's Alan, had to clear that up. Second, was that sarcasim or not? If it was I am not upset as I am often told I am way to sarcastic. Just wondering. I can't remember when I have given a great answer that was clear.

 

[Pixiegran]

Sorry Alan, when we use Dis names we rarely see our real names and I thought long ago someone called you Alex. My daughter laughs and says half the time when talking I use the wrong word but it always starts with the same letter of what I meant to say so she usually can figure it out. No I was not being sarcastic, anytime you have answered a question on here about your airline or Disney you make a easy to understand statement. Most of us tend to add unnecessary added comments or embellish our answer...like I am doing now

 

[BethE]

Hi Beth, I am in Redmond..where are you? Somewhere around Lynnwood maybe from description? We have to drive down for cruise since my daughter can't fly, but I am used to driving to Disneyland...just taking a contorted route in April. My best friend always flies from SF to meet us when we go to Disneyland (and is coming down day we get back to San Pedro) and she flies into John Wayne. She always takes the super shuttle - think it is the same name there - and as the retired owner of a travel agency I figure she knows what she is doing. I would call them and check it out.

I have posted on facebook cruise page to two others in Puget Sound area who are also on our cruise seeing if they would like to have a meeting in February/March so we all recognize each other onboard . Would you two be interested?

Judy

Hi Judy,

We are in south Everett next to Mukilteo. Thanks for the tip on Super Shuttle. I will definitely look into them.

We would love to get together for a meet in the Puget Sound area before the cruise, provided we can fit it into our schedule. Harry is having cataract surgery (left eye, Feb 29, right eye, Apr 4) and each one requires 4 docter visits -- one pre-op and 2 post-op, plus the surgery itself. Plus we have a couple of weekend trips booked, so our calendar seems very full right now. But if a meet can be scheduled that doesn't conflict, we will do our very best to attend.

BethK

 

[threebritts]

Ok after tearing my hair out all weekend trying to figure out the original spreadsheet to find out who wanted to participate in FE ive given up LOL
There were many lines without dis names and alot of maybes and people who had dropped off cruise. Dolphingirl came to my rescue and were working on a new spreadsheet so below is a link to fill in ALL info so we can get a correct count.
I am thinking of a cut off date of march 15th?? Im going with the majority for groups of 20-25 depending on final numbers. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dDJxSC15VVgzdkNLZ3dJQmxUR1luQmc6MQ

 

[aan1701]

Sorry Alan, when we use Dis names we rarely see our real names and I thought long ago someone called you Alex. My daughter laughs and says half the time when talking I use the wrong word but it always starts with the same letter of what I meant to say so she usually can figure it out. No I was not being sarcastic, anytime you have answered a question on here about your airline or Disney you make a easy to understand statement. Most of us tend to add unnecessary added comments or embellish our answer...like I am doing now

Oh cool. I never get complemnts like that. Thank you very much. Just don't forget my name again. Everytime you do will cost you a drink. Ha ha ha ha.

 

[Pixiegran]

Hi Judy,

We are in south Everett next to Mukilteo. Thanks for the tip on Super Shuttle. I will definitely look into them.

We would love to get together for a meet in the Puget Sound area before the cruise, provided we can fit it into our schedule. Harry is having cataract surgery (left eye, Feb 29, right eye, Apr 4) and each one requires 4 docter visits -- one pre-op and 2 post-op, plus the surgery itself. Plus we have a couple of weekend trips booked, so our calendar seems very full right now. But if a meet can be scheduled that doesn't conflict, we will do our very best to attend.

BethK

Understand completely...my daughter has 5 Dr appts this weeks alone. We average 2-3 a week. We need weekend to recover and check Good To Go balance!!! I'll let you know when we have something set up.

Great thing with cataract surgery is so little pain and such improved vision after Good luck to Harry.

 

[Lizzy'sMom]

Ok after tearing my hair out all weekend trying to figure out the original spreadsheet to find out who wanted to participate in FE ive given up LOL
There were many lines without dis names and alot of maybes and people who had dropped off cruise. Dolphingirl came to my rescue and were working on a new spreadsheet so below is a link to fill in ALL info so we can get a correct count.
I am thinking of a cut off date of march 15th?? Im going with the majority for groups of 20-25 depending on final numbers. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dDJxSC15VVgzdkNLZ3dJQmxUR1luQmc6MQ

I just filled it out for my two cabins - one is myself, DH and DD the other cabin is my parents.
We would like to have no groups and just give to everyone who is signed up. So if you do decide to do groups, please put BOTH our cabins in every group.

Thanks!

Andrea in Vegas

 

[aan1701]

Speeking of drinks. I just picked this up to take on the Ship. It is by far some of the smoothest rum I have ever had. Has a great maple sent to it. I love it. To bad I could only get a 1.75L bottle.

 

[Pixiegran]

Ok after tearing my hair out all weekend trying to figure out the original spreadsheet to find out who wanted to participate in FE ive given up LOL
There were many lines without dis names and alot of maybes and people who had dropped off cruise. Dolphingirl came to my rescue and were working on a new spreadsheet so below is a link to fill in ALL info so we can get a correct count.
I am thinking of a cut off date of march 15th?? Im going with the majority for groups of 20-25 depending on final numbers. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dDJxSC15VVgzdkNLZ3dJQmxUR1luQmc6MQ

DONE...let me know if I can help at all

 

[BethE]

Refresher on getting an e-mail with all your excursions/bookings:

After getting to your reservation, go to Cruise Activities, click on any day that you have an excursion/Palo and in bold letters it will say Add An Activity......E-Mail......Print. Click on e-mail and there will be a drop down to select just that day's itinerary or the entire itinerary...chose entire and send yourself the e-mail.



.

Thank you so much, Jackie! I was able to get the complete itinerary emailed to me following your instructions. Why do they make this so difficult to find?

I know there has been some conflicting info on when the Pirate Party is, so thought I would mention that my itinerary shows it as being on May 11.

Here are the excursions we booked:

Hilo: Imiloa Astronomy Center (We did most of the other things when we spent a week on the big island on my first trip to HI)

Maui: Ka‘anapali Beach Break (We did the road to Hanna when we spent a week on Maui on that same trip, plus we think Maui has the best beaches, and we have fond memories of a fun day spent with friends at Ka'anapali Beach)

Oahu: Kualoa Experience: Movie Sites, Ranch Tour & Jungle Expedition (Again, we did a lot of the other things available on my second trip to HI a coupld of years ago, and this just sounded fun and different)

Kauiai: Kalapaki Beach Break (We saw a lot of Kauiai on that second trip for me, third for Harry, but the weather was a little cool for hanging out at the beach, so we thought a relaxing afternoon at the beach would be perfect for us this time)

Ensenada: Wine Country Tour - Adult Only Departure (Anyone who knows us knows we love to taste wine, so this is perfect for us)

We also booked Palo dinner for May 9. Thought about booking it for the last night of the cruise, as our anniversary is the next day, but thought we probably would want to spent the dinner with table-mates and servers to say our good-byes.

Will try to book a Palo brunch and maybe a tea when we board.

Did the online check-in and got 11:00 boarding.

BethK

 

[SanDiegoSteph]

Would you be willing to assist a fellow Dis'er????? If so, I have a few question regarding the San Diego Zoo.

I noticed that Southern California Grayline Tours offers a bus tour to the San Diego Zoo departing at 9:15 am.....I was thinking of surprising my Mom with a day trip to the Zoo....she has always talked about going....Would it be worth it to go? or would we not really have much time since I'm not really sure how far San Diego is from Disneyland...BTW we are staying at the DLH prior to the cruise and would probably be going on a Thursday or Friday...

Any advice you could give would be greatly appreciated

So, here is what I can tell you...

The Zoo opens at 9am and is exactly 93.5 miles from the Disneyland gates (I live right by the zoo, so I do this drive pretty regularly!

I'm not sure I understand your plan exactly - are you thinking of taking the Grayline tour from DLH to the San Diego zoo departing from DLH at 9:15am?

If so, the drive down should only take you about 1.75 hours at most since most of the rush hour traffic will be over. That would put you in the zoo around 11am. When does the tour go back to DLH?

Another option is to just rent a car for the day - they are usually pretty cheap and it is a straight shot down the I-5 from DLH to the Zoo. Of course the drive from the Zoo back to DLH in the late afternoon can be a bit painful because of San Diego/Anaheim traffic and could take you as much as 2 1/2 hrs, but I have also done it in 1 1/2 (I was in a big hurry!)

If you have a choice, you DEFINITELY want to do the trip on Thursday over Friday - Friday traffic is probably the worst day of the week.

Having said all this, a trip to the San Diego Zoo is TOTALLY WORTH IT!!! If you are coming to southern California and have any time at all to go to San Diego, this is the one thing you NEED TO DO.

I have been to zoos all over the country and all over the world (I'm kind of an animal nut) and there are few that even come close - better than Prague, MUCH better than the Bronx or Washington DC and even a nose ahead of Singapore if you ask me!

But a note of caution - it is BIG...lots of walking because they have vast expanses of space for most of their animals (over 100 acres). We have one of the few exhibits of Giant Pandas in the world and an Elephant Odyssey that will knock your socks off. Okay, now I'm sounding like some kind of walking, talking billboard for them!

I'd say to REALLY see everything, you need a full 7-8 hours, but you can also do some serious damage in just 4-5 if you plan it out ahead of time. The park closes at 6pm during "spring"

Hope that helps - let me know if you have any other questions at all!

Steph

 

[BethE]

We are flying into John Wayne as well (we are staying at the Fairmont in Newport beach for 4 nighst before). I needed to get to the port from the airport to pick a rental car from Enterprise so that we could return it directly to the the port on Sunday so I scheduled a ride with Prime Time Shuttle I believe it was around $45 for just me to get from John Wayne to the port, the rest of the family will be taking the free hotel shuttle from the airport to the hotel while I pick up our rental car. Hope that helps.

Thank you -- I will Prime Time Shuttle a look-see. We also need to get back to the airport on the 14th to pick up a rental car for our week at Disneyland, so maybe they'll consider it a round-trip and give us a break on the price.

BethK

 

[seaulater]

Need to get a "clearance" scrapbook album to cover with coming fabric

You can use the 12 x 12 scrapbook you get from the class and cover it with the fabric and you won't need to buy one.

 

[tig82174]

Ok after tearing my hair out all weekend trying to figure out the original spreadsheet to find out who wanted to participate in FE ive given up LOL
There were many lines without dis names and alot of maybes and people who had dropped off cruise. Dolphingirl came to my rescue and were working on a new spreadsheet so below is a link to fill in ALL info so we can get a correct count.
I am thinking of a cut off date of march 15th?? Im going with the majority for groups of 20-25 depending on final numbers. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dDJxSC15VVgzdkNLZ3dJQmxUR1luQmc6MQ

Jason and I just submitted our info



On an unrelated (and yet similar) note. I've been trying to keep the lanyard list as up to date as possible as more and more new requests, cancellations and changes have trickled in. As of now there are nearly 275 of us on the list so far

 

[socababy]

Ok after tearing my hair out all weekend trying to figure out the original spreadsheet to find out who wanted to participate in FE ive given up LOL
There were many lines without dis names and alot of maybes and people who had dropped off cruise. Dolphingirl came to my rescue and were working on a new spreadsheet so below is a link to fill in ALL info so we can get a correct count.
I am thinking of a cut off date of march 15th?? Im going with the majority for groups of 20-25 depending on final numbers. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dDJxSC15VVgzdkNLZ3dJQmxUR1luQmc6MQ

Thanks Heather for taking on all this organizing! I submitted our room for the FE for the new spreadsheet but also wanted to add that if you break it into groups of 25 or so, please add me to 2 groups! Thanks again!

 

[dolphingirl47]

That is only a compliment to you Corinna and your beautiful work.
I am a early bird and the 8:00 time is great for me.

Thanks, I will make a note of that. The irony is that I am normally a night owl, but the huge difference in time zones turns me into an early bird.

I'd be willing to do an early workshop if that helps.

That would be a great help. I have made a note of this.

Hi Corinna-

My best friend Debbie (djpate) and I are interested in the adult charm bracelet workshop. Please add us to the list. Thank you very much for doing this.

I have added you. Can you please let me know what theme you are going to go for?

Good luck to all you lucky Gold's booking your excursions! Leave us poor silver's some.

I sent you a PM for my daughter - I'm having a brain cramp, and can't recall what information you asked us to include, please let me know if I need to send you more information.

I have received this and will reply shortly.

If we have Disney Transportation from PP to the port do we have to sign up for a check in time?

Officially no, but when I did my online check in for our October cruise, it would not let me complete the online check in without selecting an arrival time. We had DCL transfers booked from Grand Californian. Pick up from the resort hotels is around midday so I selected the 1:00 to 1:30 slot and then it let me complete it.

Talking of arrival times, this is the one thing that has been driving me crazy. We are in the lucky group that does not have to be PIF until February 14th and DH reckons that he rather has the money earn interest for us then for DCL. He has a point. However, I absolutely hated not getting on the ship until nearly 2 PM in October and I was worried this would happen again as by the time we are PIF, I thought all the earlier arrival times would be taken. I decided to log into the website a little while ago and it let me do the online check in and select the arrival time. We have a 11:00 to 11:30 slot, which is perfect. I figure that even if all Palo brunches and dinners are gone by the time we are PIF, I probably will manage to get this sorted onboard as long as I am flexible and we may go with somebody like Shoretrips if we cannot get the excursions we want.

Corinna

 

[dolphingirl47]

Scavenger Hunt

There has been a little change of plan due to the sheer number of people signing up for this. Rather that me printing all the Scavenger Hunt packs, which would take up a significant part of my luggage allowance, I will email this as a PDF file to everybody signed up. Then you can print your own and bring it on the cruise.

Please fill out the below form:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dG5vWFAtd21XVE9rNnBSMDg1RkN2ZEE6MQ

I will then email the file to everybody who has filled out the form at the beginning of April.

Corinna