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

[LindaBabe]

That would be great. Since my son is an only child we don't have ready made friends and it takes him quite a while to warm up to the kids clubs. We are arriving rather late on Friday since both my husband and I have to work that day. We are on the last flight out. If the weather allows we will definitely be at the pool on Saturday since by son would have gills if he could. If you see a dark hair boy with either Spider man or the Avengers swimming suit on that would be us.

Kristan

Remember to have your lime green & mickey heads visible!

We land in LA about 1215pm west coast time. So we will be there most of the day settling in. My son is not a fan of the kids clubs. He has already said, Mom, I don't want to go to the kids clubs this time..We will see!.. Both my guys are also fish out of water, so I am sure that the pool will also be utilized on Saturday!.. I will have my Ipad and be checking on here, and can also send my email address. Maybe we can connect that way. I am not sure how many more are staying there with younger kids, but maybe a small kids meet could be in order?

Remember to have your lime green & mickey heads visible!

We're there from Thursday night, but no kids unless you count the Teddy Bears (perpetually 5 and 4)

We are celebrating our 14th anniversary today. I know that is nothing compared to a lot of people here, but in my generation, it is major achievement. Graham came to the town where I work once he finished to the day and we had a lovely meal at an Indian restaurant that I had wanted to try for ages.

Corinna

Congratulations Corinna & Graham!!!

Sure hope I'm on your FE list! I love the things you make

 

[JLSE50]

DITTO !!
Except that the "perfect" pattern must be ordered on line and I have time now
So
I am making my own pattern

Can you say
"nervous"
About cutting THE FABRIC ?

Glad I used the white borders for pattern testing. This stuff is tricky to cut.

Best wishes to the seamstresses! And tailors!

Quoting myself to say that the pattern pieces were sliding in spite of all the pins so I used MAGIC TAPE !! What a time and sanity saver

.

 

[OH 6]

Just got this from DVC - for those of you DVC members that want to see Aulani but are not using points or doing the excursion. It does not talk about 'prospective DVC members' but I'd think they will offer the same tour to those that would consider purchasing - I guess we'll see when we get onboard. In any event, I thought I'd share:


"Aulani tour available to Members during Hawaiian voyage!

Members sailing to Hawai'i aboard the Disney Wonder® ship on April 29 are invited to take part in a unique opportunity to tour Aulani, a Disney Resort & Spa, Ko Olina, Hawai'i, including Aulani, Disney Vacation Club Villas, as part of their unforgettable island experience.

Available exclusively to Members and their travelling parties, this complimentary property tour will take place on Sunday, May 6, and will include transportation between the ship and the spectacular new resort on the Leeward Coast of O'ahu. The entire experience should take about three hours, with 90 minutes dedicated to the resort experience and the remainder earmarked for transportation to and from the resort. If you have pre-reserved Port Adventures with Disney Cruise Line for this day, please be certain to check your availability and plan accordingly to attend this Aulani tour.

Highlights of the Cast Member-led tour include planned visits to:
• Maka`ala lobby: Sharing its name with the Hawaiian word for "watchful" or "alert," this welcoming space is designed to begin connecting families to all things Hawaiian.
• Waikolohe Valley: Discover the resort's breathtaking water-recreation area, which shares its name with the Hawaiian word for "mischievous water."
• Pau Hana Room: The resort's Community Hall is named for a Hawaiian expression that means "after work." It's here that you'll enjoy juice and a small snack before enjoying a demonstration of the resort's interactive Menehune Adventure Trail experience.
• ´AMA ´AMA: This oceanfront, fine-dining restaurant is named for the mullet fish that thrives in nearby waters and sits adjacent to Off The Hook, a casual bar that's also on your tour route.
• Makai Preserve and Rainbow Reef: Makai Preserve is home to stingrays and other local sea creatures, while Rainbow Reef is the only private snorkeling lagoon on O'ahu.
• Disney Vacation Club Villa: No Member tour would be complete without a visit to a place created with them in mind. Explore a three-bedroom villa to see how Member families are feeling right at home in paradise.
Tours depart the ship every 30 minutes from 7:15 a.m. to 10:15 a.m. Additional departures begin at 1:45 p.m. with the final departure leaving the ship at 3:15 p.m.
To book yours, call (855)-831-3114


Please have your desired departure time and Disney Cruise Line confirmation number ready when you call. These unique tours are only available to book until February 29, so book yours now!

All of us at Disney Vacation Club hope you enjoy your Hawaiian voyage, and we look forward to welcoming you "home" again soon. "

 

[valbob89]

Quoting myself to say that the pattern pieces were sliding in spite of all the pins so I used MAGIC TAPE !! What a time and sanity saver

.

I took a sewing class years ago and they taught us to put tissue paper between the layers of the fabric, stops the slipping and is easy to cut and pull out.

val

 

[TChrist05]

OH 6...thank you so much for the information about Aulani....my DW and I booked a 2:45 after our excursion. We wanted to go and the cost of the taxi back and forth was pretty steep....now we get a guided tour and free transportation.....again thank you.

Tom & Marilou

 

[ALK$Disney]

Got my GTY last night #7072

Did the online check in and got the 11:30am time slot. This is our first cruise so we don't know if this is a good thing or not. Do we get there right at 11:30am or earlier? Since we live only about 10 minutes from the port, getting there will be a breeze.

Kind of dissappointed that we couldn't get Palo reservation for any of the nights we wanted. Only night available are the night that the ship is at ports.

Either way with only a little over 70 days left, the excitement is building up.

 

[chip&dale&fun]

For those interested in the Leis that Ella ordered...I emailed DCL gifts using the link on the gift page - and finally got some information from them. Here it is:

"After further research I have found that we have the following items
that can be pre-ordered by contacting our Reservation Department, these
items are not available online:

Orchid Hairpiece

Item 2177: Orchid Hairclip White - $19
Item 2178: Orchid Hairclip Purple/White - $19
Item 2179: Orchid Hairclip Green - $19
Item 2180: Orchid Hairclip Mix (all colors) -$19

Orchid Lei
Item 2185: Orchid Lei (Adult Female) White - $36
Item 2186: Orchid Lei (Adult Female) Purple/White - $36
Item 2187: Orchid Lei (Adult Female) Green - $36
Item 2188: Orchid Lei (Adult Female) Mix (all colors) - $36
Item 2189: Orchid Lei (Child Female) White - $31
Item 2190: Orchid Lei (Child Female) Purple/White - $31
Item 2191: Orchid Lei (Child Female) Green - $31
Item 2192: Orchid Lei (Child Female) Mix (all colors) - $31

Orchid Wrist Corsage

Item 2181: Orchid Wrist Corsage White - $26
Item 2182: Orchid Wrist Corsage Purple/White - $26
Item 2183: Orchid Wrist Corsage Green - $26
Item 2184: Orchid Wrist Corsage Mix (all colors) - $26

Ti Lei

Item 2193: Ti Lei/Ti Leaf (Adult Male) - $28
Item 2195: Ti Lei/Ti Leaf (Child Male) - $28

Please contact our Reservation Department at 800-601-8455 or
407-566-7000 Monday - Friday 8:00am - 10:00pm (ET) Saturday - Sunday
9:00am - 8:00pm (ET) to order the above items."

At first they denied that the leis were available - which I chalked up to getting an uninformed CM...but they took the initiative to find out more and emailed me again with the above info - so good on them for following up.

PS - I asked for full size photos of the merchandise to see the items better and was told that they don't have any bigger pictures to share. So I guess I'll order and cross my fingers that I like them. I'm not sure what to think about this since in the shops we'd get our platinum 10% off and via them we don't and I bet they'll have shirts in the shops, but not sure if they'd be the same design or not.

Thanks for posting this...I also asked about a better photo for the shirts and was told that they do not have one available...

 

[MrsMork]

As you can tell by the date I registered and the number of post that I am a long time lurker. I am sure I could win a reward for it, but this cruise has me rethinking my style. No more standing outside looking in. On this cruise will be me (Kristan), husband Dewayne, and son Kaleb who will be a month shy of five when we cruise. We are all looking forward to this vacation and can't wait for it to finally be here. I think I have all the planning done.

I have read all posts and after posting this I will go back and sign up for the FE. We are all excited to be doing this for the first time. I finally made up my mind today on what our gifts will be so I am headed off to Michael's later. Hoping they turn out as good as they look in my head.

I am training for the Disney Marathon (first time for that too) so I will be running everyday on deck 4 so if you see a women who looks like she is about to pass out that would be me so please say hi. I am looking forward to meeting everyone.

Kristan

Glad you came out of lurkdom! Be sure to attend the 3 pm gathering first day. Great way to put some faces with names. Even if you don't meet everyone at that time, you will see faces that you can stop and chat with later throughout the cruise.

and ...YOU LOOK MARVELOUS!

.

Yes, you do!!

As if don't have enough to deal with about my eyes I ended up on the emergency ro on sat and had emergency surgery.ihad a hernia the size of an apple push through I might go home tomprrow

It is getting to the time that we need to make a no more sickness or accident rule!! Too close to cruise time to have anymore of this!!

My Dad and I will officially be joining all of you and are now PIF this was supposed to be a trip with my husband, but he can not get the time off of work! There has been a lot of debate but finally decided to with my Dad to celebrate his retirement. It will be a very different trip but still a lot of fun...I can not believe how soon the trip will be here!

What a nice trip for you and your dad! Enjoy your time together.

Got my GTY last night #7072

Did the online check in and got the 11:30am time slot. This is our first cruise so we don't know if this is a good thing or not. Do we get there right at 11:30am or earlier? Since we live only about 10 minutes from the port, getting there will be a breeze.

Kind of dissappointed that we couldn't get Palo reservation for any of the nights we wanted. Only night available are the night that the ship is at ports.

Either way with only a little over 70 days left, the excitement is building up.

Congrats on getting your room number. Just check in for Palo when you get on the ship. You will be able to get the ressies you want!

 

[Lizzy'sMom]

J

"Aulani tour available to Members during Hawaiian voyage!




Thank you thank you thank you!!

We booked the 9:45am to go visit! I am so excited they are doing this! and it includes transpo! woohoo!

If anyone else is on this time slot, let me know!


Andrea
Lizzy'sMom

 

[JimHB]

This Aulani tour looks great! We have a morning to early afternoon excursion reserved (Natural Highlights of Oahu), so this fits into the afternoon wonderfully. I figure we have enough time to get a quick lunch on board, and make either the 2:45 or 3:15 departure to tour Aulani. Hopefully will leave enough time afterwards to get down to the Waikiki beach area and back before 10:30 re-boarding time. Not sure how we'll do that part yet - either bus or taxi, I guess.

 

[EllaEnchanted]

We are celebrating our 14th anniversary today. I know that is nothing compared to a lot of people here, but in my generation, it is major achievement. Graham came to the town where I work once he finished to the day and we had a lovely meal at an Indian restaurant that I had wanted to try for ages.

Being finally PIF and having the excursions booked has given me a second wind as far as the cruise is concerned. I finished the Fish Extender gifts for the men yesterday and ordered the prints for the magnets. I am still missing supplies for the rest of the Fish Extender gifts, but I am hoping that the remaining materials for the kid's gifts arrived within the next couple of days.

Corinna

Happy belated 14th anniversary. EVERY year counts, no matter what the number. 14 is a long time. Congratulations!!!!!!

 

[EllaEnchanted]

I am in the process of putting a rough layout together for the Group Navigator. A lot of you who are organizing activities have already got back to me with activities to be included in the Navigator. Thanks for this.

Here is a list of activities that I think or know are definitely taking place:

Fish Extenders - confirmed
Secret Mickey - confirmed
Scavenger Hunt - confirmed
Group Excursion Feast at Lele Luau - confirmed
Jewellery Workshops - confirmed
Stateroom Tour - confirmed
Scrapbooking Class - confirmed
Geezer/ GIT Meet Up - confirmed
Champagne Girls - confirmed
Candy Swap
Poker Tournament
Group Transport to Aulani
Pre-cruise meet at the Doubletree San Pedro

There are also a number of other activities that were mentioned at one stage or another, but I am not sure if they are still going ahead:

Group Palo Brunch
Pre-cruise Meet at Disneyland/ Grand Californian
Pyjama Breakfast
Group Vow Renewal
Group Photo with Group Hawaii shirts
Improv Workshop

If you are organizing any of those activities that are not confirmed yet or know anything about the activities in the second group, can you please let me know?

I would also like to ask all organizers to send me a brief description of their activity that will be included in the Group Navigator. I have a page for each activity and I can add information about participants, groupings, running order, timing, etc nearer the time if you do not have this information as yet. For now I just want the description. For the activities that I am running, this is just a paragraph, which did not take me long to put together.

Corinna

PM sent with description only. I will send the info/details when I get them from DCL two weeks before sailing.

 

[MousseauMob]

For those interested in the Leis that Ella ordered...I emailed DCL gifts using the link on the gift page - and finally got some information from them. Here it is:

"After further research I have found that we have the following items
that can be pre-ordered by contacting our Reservation Department, these
items are not available online:

Orchid Hairpiece

Item 2177: Orchid Hairclip White - $19
Item 2178: Orchid Hairclip Purple/White - $19
Item 2179: Orchid Hairclip Green - $19
Item 2180: Orchid Hairclip Mix (all colors) -$19

Orchid Lei
Item 2185: Orchid Lei (Adult Female) White - $36
Item 2186: Orchid Lei (Adult Female) Purple/White - $36
Item 2187: Orchid Lei (Adult Female) Green - $36
Item 2188: Orchid Lei (Adult Female) Mix (all colors) - $36
Item 2189: Orchid Lei (Child Female) White - $31
Item 2190: Orchid Lei (Child Female) Purple/White - $31
Item 2191: Orchid Lei (Child Female) Green - $31
Item 2192: Orchid Lei (Child Female) Mix (all colors) - $31

Orchid Wrist Corsage

Item 2181: Orchid Wrist Corsage White - $26
Item 2182: Orchid Wrist Corsage Purple/White - $26
Item 2183: Orchid Wrist Corsage Green - $26
Item 2184: Orchid Wrist Corsage Mix (all colors) - $26

Ti Lei

Item 2193: Ti Lei/Ti Leaf (Adult Male) - $28
Item 2195: Ti Lei/Ti Leaf (Child Male) - $28

Please contact our Reservation Department at 800-601-8455 or
407-566-7000 Monday - Friday 8:00am - 10:00pm (ET) Saturday - Sunday
9:00am - 8:00pm (ET) to order the above items."

Oh, I was kind of hoping they would do it like our last Hawaiian cruise did. They had a class/workshop (free) where they taught us how to make our own, they passed out the supplies and deomstrated/helped us. Below is the headpiece one I helped DD make, the rest of us had a longer one around our necks.

 

[EllaEnchanted]

I am cross-posting this here from the main cruise forum as I know that there are people on here that did the West Coast Repo and first Alaskan cruise back to back last year.

I hope that somebody on here can help me. We are going on our next cruise shortly and are hoping to book some cruises for next year while we are on the ship. The cruises that we are looking at are the repositioning cruise from Los Angeles to Vancouver and the first Alaskan cruise of the season. We have never done a back to back cruise on DCL before. I know that last year quite a lot of people did those two cruises back to back. How did this work in Vancouver? Did you have to get off the ship? Were you able to leave your baggage in your cabin or with guest services or did you have to take it with you to clear customs? Were you able to get straight back on the ship or did you have to wait to check in with people who were just joining the ship in Vancouver? Any help and pointers that you can offer are greatly appreciated.

Corinna

I did the b2b last year and can answer these questions. But, where do I answer this question? If I answer it here, will you post back to this person?

On any b2b you always have to get off the ship. You have to sign up for a new Key To The World card. You always leave your luggage onboard and don't have to pack as long as you don't change rooms. if you change rooms, you have to pack. You have to wait until they tell you that you can go back on the ship. Ideally it's supposed to be a short wait for you but it doesn't always work out that way. Vancouver is large and there was a lot of people. It went as well as possible for the large number of people they were processing. Just do what they say and have a lot of patience. Have all of your paperwork in order and ready to hand over. DCL will explain everything to you. They escort you off the boat in a group. You get processed and then wait a "short" while to reboard. I hope this helps.

 

[SerbianPrincess]

Orchid Hairpiece

Item 2177: Orchid Hairclip White - $19
Item 2178: Orchid Hairclip Purple/White - $19
Item 2179: Orchid Hairclip Green - $19
Item 2180: Orchid Hairclip Mix (all colors) -$19

Orchid Lei
Item 2185: Orchid Lei (Adult Female) White - $36
Item 2186: Orchid Lei (Adult Female) Purple/White - $36
Item 2187: Orchid Lei (Adult Female) Green - $36
Item 2188: Orchid Lei (Adult Female) Mix (all colors) - $36
Item 2189: Orchid Lei (Child Female) White - $31
Item 2190: Orchid Lei (Child Female) Purple/White - $31
Item 2191: Orchid Lei (Child Female) Green - $31
Item 2192: Orchid Lei (Child Female) Mix (all colors) - $31

Orchid Wrist Corsage

Item 2181: Orchid Wrist Corsage White - $26
Item 2182: Orchid Wrist Corsage Purple/White - $26
Item 2183: Orchid Wrist Corsage Green - $26
Item 2184: Orchid Wrist Corsage Mix (all colors) - $26

Ti Lei

Item 2193: Ti Lei/Ti Leaf (Adult Male) - $28
Item 2195: Ti Lei/Ti Leaf (Child Male) - $28

Please contact our Reservation Department at 800-601-8455 or
407-566-7000 Monday - Friday 8:00am - 10:00pm (ET) Saturday - Sunday
9:00am - 8:00pm (ET) to order the above items."

Thank you! This sound great..great way to start the trip

 

[EllaEnchanted]

For those interested in the Leis that Ella ordered...I emailed DCL gifts using the link on the gift page - and finally got some information from them. Here it is:

"After further research I have found that we have the following items
that can be pre-ordered by contacting our Reservation Department, these
items are not available online:

Orchid Hairpiece

Item 2177: Orchid Hairclip White - $19
Item 2178: Orchid Hairclip Purple/White - $19
Item 2179: Orchid Hairclip Green - $19
Item 2180: Orchid Hairclip Mix (all colors) -$19

Orchid Lei
Item 2185: Orchid Lei (Adult Female) White - $36
Item 2186: Orchid Lei (Adult Female) Purple/White - $36
Item 2187: Orchid Lei (Adult Female) Green - $36
Item 2188: Orchid Lei (Adult Female) Mix (all colors) - $36
Item 2189: Orchid Lei (Child Female) White - $31
Item 2190: Orchid Lei (Child Female) Purple/White - $31
Item 2191: Orchid Lei (Child Female) Green - $31
Item 2192: Orchid Lei (Child Female) Mix (all colors) - $31

Orchid Wrist Corsage

Item 2181: Orchid Wrist Corsage White - $26
Item 2182: Orchid Wrist Corsage Purple/White - $26
Item 2183: Orchid Wrist Corsage Green - $26
Item 2184: Orchid Wrist Corsage Mix (all colors) - $26

Ti Lei

Item 2193: Ti Lei/Ti Leaf (Adult Male) - $28
Item 2195: Ti Lei/Ti Leaf (Child Male) - $28

Please contact our Reservation Department at 800-601-8455 or
407-566-7000 Monday - Friday 8:00am - 10:00pm (ET) Saturday - Sunday
9:00am - 8:00pm (ET) to order the above items."

At first they denied that the leis were available - which I chalked up to getting an uninformed CM...but they took the initiative to find out more and emailed me again with the above info - so good on them for following up.

PS - I asked for full size photos of the merchandise to see the items better and was told that they don't have any bigger pictures to share. So I guess I'll order and cross my fingers that I like them. I'm not sure what to think about this since in the shops we'd get our platinum 10% off and via them we don't and I bet they'll have shirts in the shops, but not sure if they'd be the same design or not.

Thanks for putting this together for everyone. I didn't realize that people were having difficulties ordering them. The CM I spoke with offered it to me without my asking. I thought they were readily available.

 

[CarolAnnC]

Happy Valentine's Day!

 

[castoff]

Happy Valentine's Day !!

 

[castoff]

Oh, I was kind of hoping they would do it like our last Hawaiian cruise did. They had a class/workshop (free) where they taught us how to make our own, they passed out the supplies and deomstrated/helped us. Below is the headpiece one I helped DD make, the rest of us had a longer one around our necks.

I like the idea of having the class to make our own.

I kinda thought since it's the first time Disney is visiting Hawaii that we would get one as we get off the ship in port. Maybe I am just dreaming. Since it's the US do you think we can get one in port and bring back on the ship ? Just for the cuise though, I wouldn't take off of ship in LA.

 

[valbob89]

I like the idea of having the class to make our own.

I kinda thought since it's the first time Disney is visiting Hawaii that we would get one as we get off the ship in port. Maybe I am just dreaming. Since it's the US do you think we can get one in port and bring back on the ship ? Just for the cuise though, I wouldn't take off of ship in LA.

Yes, you can take cut flowers off the ship, unless they have recently changed the rules. Any plants have to have the US agro sticker, which any nursery's in the island can give you should you visit one.