April 29, 2012 ~ Aloha! ~ Inagural Wonder to Hawaii-Part 4

[woody73]

Hi Woody!!!! How is Mrs. Woody??? Say hi from me and John. It's so good to see you over here and thank you for the heads up.

. . .

Sorry we're not going to get to see you this time when we're in town since we're staying only one night before departing and we'll be at the port. No time for play, but if you get to Orlando area next year, we'll be living there and we'll get together. Keep us in mind.

You betcha.

Woody

 

[woody73]

Thanks Woody; just as I would have predicted and couldn't have said it better Glad you had a good time. Hope to see ya on another cruise someday. ALOHA AND MAHALO.

Aloha. Have a great cruise.

Woody

 

[paulasillars]

If dresses are required for formal night, I better get shopping!.. I don't own dresses...

I don't really do dresses either and usually wear black dress pants with nice top. Why I would put myself in a dress and not feel right and whole night would be a mess....I still look nice in pants and feeling more relaxed.

I don't own any dresses either, well except for the fancy dress kind - so if I could go in 1960s or 1970s with full wig and appropriate platform shoes then I'm good.

Also, I have never seen my Mum in a skirt or dress - she hasn't worn either since 1967...

I hate dressing up. I consider myself "dressed up" for work, and thats with a "tidy casual" dress code - basically no blue jeans I wear my "fancy" silver skechers to work when I'm trying to impress.

Thanks!
There are people from every group that I know so everyone will be getting something from us. It just doesn't seem like a FE if you only give to 25 people.

On past cruises, we have given to all FE cabins (140+ for PC) or all groups for WBTA - but have only done one group this time as its just to heavy carrying these gifts both there and back again. We have a 20kg weight limit (about 45lbs each) for our airline. Thats not much for a 2 week cruise plus two days either side...

I am lucky enough to still have my mother, and she will be with me on this cruise so if you need to borrow her for an extra hug, let me know.

Mine is available too. I can hand her over at the start of the cruise ...

We just returned from a 14-night Hawaii cruise (not DCL).

Here are some random thoughts.

• The days at sea can be very rough. We had rough seas the first 1-1/2 days leaving the west coast, and on the 2 days leaving Hawaii. (Bring something for motion sickness.)
  
• The weather on the islands can be unpredictable. We had rain showers on Maui and Kauai. (Pack a jacket or umbrella in your daybag when going ashore.)
  
• Port arrival times can vary widely. We arrived an hour early at one port, and two hours late at another. (If you book a private tour, be careful with the timing.)

Otherwise, it is a fantastic cruise and we would do it again.

Thanks heaps for the info Woody!

I come up with 39 kids. If they don't have an age after their name I figured they were adult "kids"...like my daughter traveling with me. Corinna did you do an child total count?

The 3rd in our cabin (we are in group 6) is my Mum.

On the Baltic cruise DCL left Disneyland Paris Ponchos in everyone's room before the first port of call. I have no reason why. If you did any research you would know that rain is common on that itinerary. Oh well, I have a DLP poncho now that gets a lot of looks when I am at WDW.

We got Mickey ponchos on the WBTA in 2010 too. I don't recall which port but I think it was Cartagena.

So DH, DS (2) and I are thinking about joining your cruise, our main concern (other than the price ) is that we will not have enough time to properly plan for a trip of this magnitude, this is a dream trip for us. Just wondering if any of you who have already obsessively planned like I like to do can recommend excursions that you plan to do -- we probably won't do many through Disney and would like to do most of them on our own. All advice is welcomed and appreciated! I'm going to try to read through the 4 threads but time is limited with a very energetic 2 year old son

We are doing Disney excursions for 3 of the Hawaii islands - it works out fairly expensive for us to rent a car with all the insurances (non-US citizens) but in Oahu, we are using the public bus as we are very close to Waikiki. This would also be a nice port to just take a nice long walk in too. Its very pretty.

Thanks heaps for those organising activities for this cruise - its really appreciated but all those participating, I know its like herding cats but we really do appreciate it!

I have submitted the early dining linked to the TA - but I've not heard from her, I think she's run away screaming ...

 

[paulasillars]

How this works
Each player will be placed into a group with 10-12 others - and will leave a small snack size candy/chocolate bar in each of the other FEs in their group - this activity will closed approximately 1 month before sailing when groups will be arranged

If you wish to play, please PM me with your cabin number and how many in your cabin are playing.

Those that have indicated they wish to play - please let me know if you are still wishing to play and if you have a change of cabin number (or are no longer GTY)
PaulaSillars 2538
dylansmom 5642
thekoeppens 7001
kmitchel GTY
Grammy4Lizzy 5510
Lizzy'sMom 5508
MJGirl 6131
AlohaDisney 2614
Lauragar 7126
DCLDivaB 8048
DisneyManFamily4 GTY
socababy 7108
Pixiegran 7638
Photocjr 2556
Bill3540 6321
disneygal0614 GTY

 

[supraman]

Thank you. I'm thinking if we go the best bet for us would be to bring the car seat and rent a car at the ports that way we can go at our own pace and just see the things we find interesting. Must go to bed!

First I'll encourage you to come! It would be great to have some more Canadians on board (we're from the greater Toronto area). Also, there are some onboard credits available now that weren't available when booking a year ago.

As far as bringing your own car seat, all the rental car agencies in Hawaii will provide them for a fee if you'd rather not lug around a seat. You can book ahead and reserve a seat while booking. As previously mentioned, the exercusions are largely tailored to older kids. Our DSes are 5 an 3 and for two of the days we're just renting cars and doing our own thing.

Hope you can make it!

 

[Robin"D"]

I have not received any call changing the time of Arizona Memorial and City Tour, Adults Only Departure.

Same here, no call, and looked at "our Excursion reservations" ...no change. I hope it stays that way....going to the DVC Aulani Tour @ 2:45.

Robin & Angel "D"

 

[pilk]

Thank you. I'm thinking if we go the best bet for us would be to bring the car seat and rent a car at the ports that way we can go at our own pace and just see the things we find interesting. Must go to bed!

First I'll encourage you to come! It would be great to have some more Canadians on board (we're from the greater Toronto area).

Another Canadian here. I was up in Ottawa couple weeks ago for work related diving. I wish we got the snow you had, it doesn't seem like a winter in southern Ontario.

Jon

 

[gdaneowner]

Another Canadian here. I was up in Ottawa couple weeks ago for work related diving. I wish we got the snow you had, it doesn't seem like a winter in southern Ontario.

Jon

It hasn't seemed like winter any where this year it seems. We are going to have temps in the upper 70's and into the 80's this week, here in Kansas! Odd weather all around this winter!

 

[dylan'smom]

Hi everyone, So DH, DS (2) and I are thinking about joining your cruise, our main concern (other than the price ) is that we will not have enough time to properly plan for a trip of this magnitude, this is a dream trip for us. Just wondering if any of you who have already obsessively planned like I like to do can recommend excursions that you plan to do -- we probably won't do many through Disney and would like to do most of them on our own. All advice is welcomed and appreciated! I'm going to try to read through the 4 threads but time is limited with a very energetic 2 year old son
thanks again

We have been to Hawaii before so will be more laid back on this one, excursion wise. As mentioned, kayak had good car rental deals, there is a private luau being planned (see roll call spreadsheet), as well as the DCL one which would probably be fun for your little one (having Mickey & the gang there!), and last I heard there was still a custom shirt available in small!! Have fun planning - seems to me you can't go wrong in such a beautiful place, no matter what you choose.

We were on that cruise also, but we did not get rain ponchos. Maybe it had something to do with the excursion you were going on?

We didn't have ponchos at all on ours, but we were on the first, inaugural one with you....guess they thought of it later!! lol

How this works
Each player will be placed into a group with 10-12 others - and will leave a small snack size candy/chocolate bar in each of the other FEs in their group - this activity will closed approximately 1 month before sailing when groups will be arranged. If you wish to play, please PM me with your cabin number and how many in your cabin are playing.
Those that have indicated they wish to play - please let me know if you are still wishing to play and if you have a change of cabin number (or are no longer GTY)
PaulaSillars 2538
dylansmom 5642
thekoeppens 7001
kmitchel GTY
Grammy4Lizzy 5510
Lizzy'sMom 5508
MJGirl 6131
AlohaDisney 2614
Lauragar 7126
DCLDivaB 8048
DisneyManFamily4 GTY
socababy 7108
Pixiegran 7638
Photocjr 2556
Bill3540 6321
disneygal0614 GTY

We're still in! Looking forward to it. DH loves this activity for having munchies to take to Buena Vista!! I love the different types of candy from different parts of the world. I'm bringing a couple things - one is made in my old home town and another is supposed to be good for sea sickness.....NOT that we will be having any of those 30' swells, thank you very much!!!!!!

 

[dylan'smom]

Hey all,
Haven't had the chance to join in on this thread yet, but we too are joining this cruise!
I don't know if this has been posted yet throughout this thread, but I wanted to pass on something I came across today when planning our port adventures. We opted to do Oahu on our own after much consideration, and I noted today that you can now book tickets online to visit Pearl Harbor. This was the deal clincher for us to do this island on our own as you can now reserve a specific time without running the risk of getting there and needing to wait hours to visit the Memorial with the previous "first come, first served" policy. Simply go to http://www.nps.gov/valr/planyourvisit/feesandreservations.htm and follow the directions. There is a $1.50 convenience fee, but well worth it for the convenience of a specific time now set. I don't know if others were planning to go on their own, but the ability to reserve online has apparently only been available for the past 2 or 3 weeks.

 

[Happy Goofy]

I just spent over a half hour with DCL on the change of time for the Arizona tour. I was told that the vendor changed the time and they are not doing an 8am tour at all. I told them that only a few of us got the call and there are others that are still on the 8. I was told that everyone should be getting a call. Not knowing any last names I could not confirm that I knew people on the 8am tour.

If you are on that tour I would check with DCL directly and not just check your on line activities.

 

[Thekoeppens]

I follow both groups when time permits. I find following threads easier on Facebook. However, I enjoy the conversations on both medias. I would hate to have anyone make an impression of who I am based upon which media site I follow. I do agree planning using two medias makes it very difficult. I can not applaud enough for the numerous people who have spent so much time organizing the various activities. To them I personally say thank you very much!
I can't wait to meet everyone.
Here's to a wonderful friend filled Cruise!

I have to admit that I really don't understand the animosity towards the people who use the FB page, but I personally feel like it is easier to find things and track conversations on FB vs. on the DIS Boards. I certainly hope people are not attempting to include/exclude others based on if they are able to keep up with the 3 pages a day added here on DIS that frequently don't have to do with planning for our trip. We have a great group of people on BOTH sites so I hope everyone can appreciate that.

 

[cdndisneydaddy]

First I'll encourage you to come! It would be great to have some more Canadians on board (we're from the greater Toronto area). Also, there are some onboard credits available now that weren't available when booking a year ago.

Awesome! Looks like there are a bunch of you from Ontario coming. Big shout out from the West Coast. Looking forward to meeting everyone!

Roy

 

[TDC Nala]

We were on that cruise also, but we did not get rain ponchos. Maybe it had something to do with the excursion you were going on?

We got ponchos in the room on the 2nd Baltic. The only rain the entire trip was a thunderstorm in St. Petersburg that I was indoors for. They certainly didn't give any ponchos out for Alaska, when it rained in every port.

If they're going to change the 8 AM adults only tour I can wait until they get to me. I'm not going to Aulani and I don't have anything scheduled after it.

 

[kris24]

Hi everyone,

So DH, DS (2) and I are thinking about joining your cruise, our main concern (other than the price ) is that we will not have enough time to properly plan for a trip of this magnitude, this is a dream trip for us. Just wondering if any of you who have already obsessively planned like I like to do can recommend excursions that you plan to do -- we probably won't do many through Disney and would like to do most of them on our own. All advice is welcomed and appreciated! I'm going to try to read through the 4 threads but time is limited with a very energetic 2 year old son

thanks again

Hi,
I will also be traveling with my husband and four year old son. We are actually only doing two excursions through Disney and the rest on our own. Most excursions my son was not old enough or we were afraid the tours would be too long for him so for the first time in all our cruises we are going on our own.

Hilo- we are doing a private tour with Marylou's Big Island Tours. We figure if our son is not enjoying something we can move on and not disrupt anyone else's vacation. I was able to tell them our must dos and they will make suggestions and if we want to stop we will and if not we will move on.

Maui- we are renting a car and doing our own thing until the laua with Disney.

Oahu - We are doing pearl harbor on our own and then going to Aluani for the day.

Kauai- we are doing a tour with Wings Over Kauai in the morning and then walking to the beach that is by the port.

Good luck in deciding what to do.

Kristan

 

[mishoe01]

I just spent over a half hour with DCL on the change of time for the Arizona tour. I was told that the vendor changed the time and they are not doing an 8am tour at all. I told them that only a few of us got the call and there are others that are still on the 8. I was told that everyone should be getting a call. Not knowing any last names I could not confirm that I knew people on the 8am tour.

If you are on that tour I would check with DCL directly and not just check your on line activities.

Charlotte - did they tell you when you were going to be finished?

 

[gurlwithwings35]

Hello All!!
Sorry it's been so long. I've still been trying to keep up with the board, but it's been very high paced and I don't have the time to read every page.
But I just wanted to check in and say hi

Oh and also, we finally got our cabin #!! We'll be in cabin 2016
We also got our ceremony date for the cruise! We'll be getting married May 1st on the deck 7 aft!
SO EXCITED!!!

Cant wait to see you all!

 

[LindaBabe]

Aloha Ahiahi.....

Good Evening...

Val does it again. Did anyone else notice that the flowers in the fabric match the colors for the four Hawaiian islands we are visiting? Red = the Big Island, PInk = Maui, Yellow for Oahu and purple for Kauai.

Neat......

Clever! And clever of you to figure it out!

Thank you. I'm thinking if we go the best bet for us would be to bring the car seat and rent a car at the ports that way we can go at our own pace and just see the things we find interesting. Must go to bed!

Hope you can join us!

Heather did all the updates and here is her list:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Agma8fe-PvOhdEpIVVV3SThVd2ZUVzBVVWZ0M25zTWc#gid=0

Just because it bears repeating! Because I know I won't be able to find it again when I need it.

BTW, I don't think anyone is "hating" facebookers - Just saying that having two parallel discussions about planning such things as FEs complicates things for the organizers. Since they are a DISBOARD invention, my personal opinion is - that discussion belongs on the DIS. That opinion doesn't make me a "hater".

 

[Lexa]

Clever! And clever of you to figure it out!



Hope you can join us!



Just because it bears repeating! Because I know I won't be able to find it again when I need it.

BTW, I don't think anyone is "hating" facebookers - Just saying that having two parallel discussions about planning such things as FEs complicates things for the organizers. Since they are a DISBOARD invention, my personal opinion is - that discussion belongs on the DIS. That opinion doesn't make me a "hater".

I couldn't agree more. I love FB, but organizing things and signing up for things such FE and others should stay on DIS boards.....lesson learned this time I guess.

 

[poohluv2u]

No...I'm just saying that Hawaii don't observe daylight savings time. So i'm confused what time are all the excursion on....ship time, local HI time...? I was on a cruise where they stayed on ship time all the time no matter local time.

If the Wonder is following Pacific time, that would make those 8am excursions start at 5 in the morning Hawaii time So I think it more likely that the excursions follow Hawaiian time

We call that liquid sunshine. I will take a warm rain over a cold one anyday.

Hi everyone,

So DH, DS (2) and I are thinking about joining your cruise, our main concern (other than the price ) is that we will not have enough time to properly plan for a trip of this magnitude, this is a dream trip for us. Just wondering if any of you who have already obsessively planned like I like to do can recommend excursions that you plan to do -- we probably won't do many through Disney and would like to do most of them on our own. All advice is welcomed and appreciated! I'm going to try to read through the 4 threads but time is limited with a very energetic 2 year old son

thanks again

Welcome You still have 7 weeks to plan so don't stress

We are doing Disney excursions for 3 of the Hawaii islands - it works out fairly expensive for us to rent a car with all the insurances (non-US citizens) but in Oahu, we are using the public bus as we are very close to Waikiki. This would also be a nice port to just take a nice long walk in too. Its very pretty.

We are very familiar with the bus system on Oahu, and have found it to be very reliable. We are also going to use it to go to Waikiki

BTW, I don't think anyone is "hating" facebookers - Just saying that having two parallel discussions about planning such things as FEs complicates things for the organizers. Since they are a DISBOARD invention, my personal opinion is - that discussion belongs on the DIS. That opinion doesn't make me a "hater".

While I appreciate Woody coming to tell us about his Hawaiian cruise experience, we should also keep in mind that our cruise is for April/May, and Hawaii's dry season is Apr-Oct. Which is not to say we might not have a little liquid sunshine along the way, but it passes quickly. I take along an umbrella for protection from the sun, which also helps with the rain. Here's a picture of Jack holding my parasol