April 29, 2012 ~ Aloha! ~ Wonder to Hawaii- who is with me?

[auntlynne]

The deposits are non refundable right? I see that one is available for this cruise now according to the website.

Yes, non-refundable deposits. Had a one-bedroom on an 11-night Med and really enjoyed the extra space.

 

[BethE]

I'm thinking we should add a Geezer Meet or two to this list since all 6 founding members will be onboard.

Geezer Meet - Cove Cafe around 10 pm or so All are welcome, no need to sign up as Geezers would loose the signup list anyway.

Harry and I would love to join you, but we think 10 pm is far too late for us geezers.

Beth and Harry

 

[dolphingirl47]

Hello from Wisconsin!

I'm excited to cruise to Hawaii with this bunch! The last time I was on a 2-weeker was the EB PC in 2008. Great memories. I've been dying to do another long cruise, but had to work my cruises around my second son! HA!

With that said, I will be sailing to Hawaii with my DH, almost 4 and almost 2yo sons. We'll be in a group of 8 total. We just got off the Dream MV in January, and are excited to go "old school" with the Wonder next year. Still love the Magic and Wonder, always will. My DH thinks that the Oceaneer's club is BETTER on the Magic/Wonder. We'll see what our boys think.

I don't have very high expectations of seeing and doing everything on the islands....just because of the age of my kids, but I am really excited for the fun that we will create during 15 days of our Hawaiian adventure! I won't miss the flights that it would take to get us to Hawaii if we didn't cruise. Anybody else with young kids? Anyone else from the land of Cheese and Packers?

Hopefully I will find some time during "nap" each day to check what the Hawaiian cruisers are talking about!


Oh, and on the topic of Merchandise. We had the same mess on the Dream MV as the Wonder PC everyone is talking about. I have no idea WHY DCL used to be able to handle special itinerary merch. and then seemed to let their system of "pre-ordering" go. No one wants to spend their vay-cay waiting in line for pins each day. The pre-order forms were available on the '07 WB TA and the '08 EB PC. The system worked GREAT! I need to write a letter and let them know how I feel about this as well. My sis missed her first dinner on the Dream because she was waiting in line for merchandise. Silly.


Well, enough of that.

Here's hoping that Hawaii is well worth the wait! Let the countdown begin!

Erica

Welcome on board.

BROOKLYN! Thanks for the Lilo and Stitch Cruise picture. I have printed it out 6 different sizes and am posting them all over the condo.
A little excited are we???

I have sent three missives to DCL by using the CONTACT US at the bottom of the DCL page. When I log in through my Castaway Club membership I do not even have to fill in name and address, it is all there.

The first was to tell them we hope the WONDER HAWAII cruise and the future MAGIC cruises are not treated like after-thoughts. DCL cruisers do a lot of word of mouth advertising and we want to be able to speak highly of all our ships. I mentioned the pin fiasco, etc. It was all nicely done, not crabby, (if I do say so myself ). I got a form letter kind of reply.

The second and third missives were about some merchandising ideas I would like to see. I just send the third one minutes ago and as I returned to read my e-mails I saw a reply from DCL for the second missive saying:

Dear Jan,

Thank you for writing back!

I would be happy to further assist you.

Thank you for your continued thoughtfulness in sharing ways we can
improve our cruise experience.

As with previous suggestions, your thoughts will be shared with
management. We strive to offer a cruise experience that meets the Disney
standards of excellence our Guests have come to expect and that provides
the type of magical vacation they desire.

Please let us know if you have any other questions.

We look forward to sailing with you again!

Magical Regards,

JD
Reservations Department
Disney Cruise Line

Please note--I was thanked for WRITING BACK. I do think they pay attention and while some of our ideas seem reasonable to us--like my merchandise suggestions -- I have no idea how do-able they may be. So, I will keep them to myself and if they come to pass--lucky us and if they do not--oh well.

One would think I have no other cruises to plan for, or granddaughters to visit or activities to pursue or a job to do, or .....

Have a great day!
Jan

That is encouraging. I have not heard anything back from them so far.

Hi everyone,
Managed to book the 15 night Hawaii Cruise in 2012 and can't wait.
We have sailed with Disney many times. This will be our first trip to Hawaii, so excited!
Hope to see you all aboard.
Regards

Welcome on board.

It is back to work for me today. I should have had another day off today, but we have a Call Quality Focus day at work today and I have to go in for half a day. For that I only have to work half a day on Saturday. I am now working 8 days in a row. On my next day off, I am going to Dubai for our vacation. I can't wait.

I have just posted the Cabo San Lucas installment of my trip report. DH has threatened me that I would not be allowed to go to Dubai unless the trip report from our last vacation is finished. So far I have been working on it for 3 months. I just have the last sea day and out day in Los Angeles to go and then it will be finished. This should be doable.

I got a bunch of gift certificates to spend so I will head into town after work today to spend them.

Corinna

 

[granmaz]

Welcome new cruisers!!

 

[paulasillars]

Oh No, not the candy swap, I hold you personally responsible for the 8kg's I put on during the WBTA! Yes, 8 kg's! Do you have any idea how much my trainer kicked my butt?

The balloon guy was great, Did you see the balloon racing car sitting in the luggage pick-up area after the cruise? Some poor family had to lug that home for their kid!

Ummm hello... person making me fat by forcing me to eat Tim Tams... I put on about 5kg during the WBTA and subsequent WDW/DL... I really am going to have to try walking around the deck a bit more instead of plonking my expanding buttocks into a deck chair and watching people exercising...

LOL I can just imagine trying to get some of his wonderful creations home

I've put you down for organizing the candy swap

Thanks, I have put a sign up on the spreadsheet for those interested.

I'm excited to cruise to Hawaii with this bunch! The last time I was on a 2-weeker was the EB PC in 2008. Great memories. I've been dying to do another long cruise, but had to work my cruises around my second son! HA!

Welcome, there are a fair few EBPC cruisers to you will see a few familiar faces.

 

[dolphingirl47]

Ummm hello... person making me fat by forcing me to eat Tim Tams... I put on about 5kg during the WBTA and subsequent WDW/DL... I really am going to have to try walking around the deck a bit more instead of plonking my expanding buttocks into a deck chair and watching people exercising...

I can recommend the daily Walk A Mile with the Cruise Staff. I am also hoping that they are offering the Aqua Aerobics classes again that they did on the PC cruise this year. I never had such a good workout before.

I have been lucky in that I actually lost about 4kg on the WBTA and that was despite doing the Deluxe Dining Plan at WDW afterwards.

Corinna

 

[mickeymom923]

I am soooo excited about this cruise that I'm having a hard time concentrating on other things. I live right outside of Philly. Just wondering if there is anyone from the PA, NJ, NY, Baltimore etc area that might be interested in a Philly meet. It would be lots of fun.

Bev

 

[Happy Goofy]

I sent an email and also a letter and got about the same response. I hope if they get enough of our letters they will stop and think that maybe all of us have some good suggestions and will act on them. Time will tell.

 

[LittleDisneyLovers]

Hi Everyone - we've booked this cruise, so hope to chime in on the board occasionally.
Cheers,
Sally

Hi Sally, another Aussie here, we live on the Gold Coast in QLD.
We did the WBTA in 2010 and loved it so much we're back for another!

Is there a place to go and get these designs? For personal print outs?

Here is a link to his album - on the right, click posted designs for 520 images
http://s229.photobucket.com/albums/ee285/jordak67/

val

Thanks Val!
You can also request designs from Jordak.

I am not from the land of chees and Packers, but from the Great Land of OZ.I am very close with on the kids!.. I will be traveling with my Mom, my 27month old son, and my almost 5yr old son.

Hey, we're also from the land of Oz, ok, so our Oz is short for Australia, but close....sort of
I am currently pregnant and will be bringing our 8 month old baby boy, along with my 2 DD's, 11 and 9.

Ummm hello... person making me fat by forcing me to eat Tim Tams... I put on about 5kg during the WBTA and subsequent WDW/DL... I really am going to have to try walking around the deck a bit more instead of plonking my expanding buttocks into a deck chair and watching people exercising...

Whoops, forgot about the Tim Tams, do you know I brought 35 packets with me, OMG, that was a lot of precious luggage space, I'm glad it went to good use, padding peoples butts!

I will be walking the stroller round on deck, trying to burn off all the creme brulees and getting baby to sleep at the same time. It's a plan now, let's see how I feel after eating all those creme brulees, might just join you in the deck chairs.



We have a 5 day weekend here starting today, yippee, just started it with dinner out with friends (mexican), we have a planned easter egg hunt for the kids and friends kids tomorrow, and then BBQ's and boating for a few days.
Life's good

 

[gdaneowner]

Hi Sally, another Aussie here, we live on the Gold Coast in QLD.
We did the WBTA in 2010 and loved it so much we're back for another!





Thanks Val!
You can also request designs from Jordak.



Hey, we're also from the land of Oz, ok, so our Oz is short for Australia, but close....sort of
I am currently pregnant and will be bringing our 8 month old baby boy, along with my 2 DD's, 11 and 9.



Whoops, forgot about the Tim Tams, do you know I brought 35 packets with me, OMG, that was a lot of precious luggage space, I'm glad it went to good use, padding peoples butts!

I will be walking the stroller round on deck, trying to burn off all the creme brulees and getting baby to sleep at the same time. It's a plan now, let's see how I feel after eating all those creme brulees, might just join you in the deck chairs.



We have a 5 day weekend here starting today, yippee, just started it with dinner out with friends (mexican), we have a planned easter egg hunt for the kids and friends kids tomorrow, and then BBQ's and boating for a few days.
Life's good

We sailed our first cruise when my youngest was 8 months. It was a challenge, but we still had a great time.. He will be just over 2 this time, so we should all have an even better time!..

 

[MrsMork]

Harry and I would love to join you, but we think 10 pm is far too late for us geezers.

Beth and Harry

Well, we have to wait for the late dining Geezers to finish their soup. We did manage to stay awake for a cup of cocoa or sip of cognac before heading off to slumberland.

Ummm hello... person making me fat by forcing me to eat Tim Tams... I put on about 5kg during the WBTA and subsequent WDW/DL... I really am going to have to try walking around the deck a bit more instead of plonking my expanding buttocks into a deck chair and watching people exercising...

Thanks, I have put a sign up on the spreadsheet for those interested.



Welcome, there are a fair few EBPC cruisers to you will see a few familiar faces.

We will be happy to seat ourselves on a chair on deck 4 and be your lap counters!! We did a fine job of that on the WBTA!

 

[Tinkerbel129]

I am soooo excited about this cruise that I'm having a hard time concentrating on other things. I live right outside of Philly. Just wondering if there is anyone from the PA, NJ, NY, Baltimore etc area that might be interested in a Philly meet. It would be lots of fun.

Bev

Hi Bev, I live around Cherry Hill. I work most weekends, but do have a May 1st off. Anyone else from this area?

 

[UKANGEL]

Hi everyone,
Managed to book the 15 night Hawaii Cruise in 2012 and can't wait.
We have sailed with Disney many times. This will be our first trip to Hawaii, so excited!
Hope to see you all aboard.
Regards

Hello! Welcome!





.

 

[Janis]

Hi Bev, I live around Cherry Hill. I work most weekends, but do have a May 1st off. Anyone else from this area?

Hi,

I'm from the Philly suburbs.

 

[Lynn G]

Hi Sally! Welcome aboard! For myself, i'm glad I get a second try at meeting you - SO sorry I missed the opportunity on the PC.



Don't hold your breath! I sent them a long detailed letter with a copy to my TA after the PC cruise and neither one of us heard anything. NADA. ZIP!

We have written a letter to DCL after every cruise we have gone on, and have gotten a reply for each one - granted mostly canned responses, but still a response!

Harry and I would love to join you, but we think 10 pm is far too late for us geezers.

Beth and Harry

10PM is also pushing it for us, but if the late show ends about that time, we might make it!

Brooklyn - nice artwork!

 

[castoff]

Thanks for sharing your talented work with us !! I have it as my background for computer and it looks cool. It gave it a black background with white lines around design and it looks GREAT !

 

[castoff]

Hi Everyone - we've booked this cruise, so hope to chime in on the board occasionally. Probably not as much as I did on the PC cruise, because in the end, we rarely took part in any of the on-board activities organised by the DIS crowd

In any case, our details are in my sig, and thirlled to be celebrating our 20th wedding anniversary travelling with Disney again

We just arrived home today from a 10 night South Pacific cruise with another cruise line...... returned the feedback card with the comment "DCL will have all our cruising dollars from herein"

I need to re-arrange our cabins, too - we have half of us on Deck 8, and the other half on Deck 6. Also not completely sure if we'll take the kids yet. Three weeks is a long time out of school - mostly for eldest DD, who'll be 1/3 of the way through Year 10 (Sophmore year equivalent, I think).

I look forward to sharing the excitement with you all

Cheers,
Sally

Hello from Wisconsin!

I'm excited to cruise to Hawaii with this bunch! The last time I was on a 2-weeker was the EB PC in 2008. Great memories. I've been dying to do another long cruise, but had to work my cruises around my second son! HA!

With that said, I will be sailing to Hawaii with my DH, almost 4 and almost 2yo sons. We'll be in a group of 8 total. We just got off the Dream MV in January, and are excited to go "old school" with the Wonder next year. Still love the Magic and Wonder, always will. My DH thinks that the Oceaneer's club is BETTER on the Magic/Wonder. We'll see what our boys think.

I don't have very high expectations of seeing and doing everything on the islands....just because of the age of my kids, but I am really excited for the fun that we will create during 15 days of our Hawaiian adventure! I won't miss the flights that it would take to get us to Hawaii if we didn't cruise. Anybody else with young kids? Anyone else from the land of Cheese and Packers?

Hopefully I will find some time during "nap" each day to check what the Hawaiian cruisers are talking about!


Oh, and on the topic of Merchandise. We had the same mess on the Dream MV as the Wonder PC everyone is talking about. I have no idea WHY DCL used to be able to handle special itinerary merch. and then seemed to let their system of "pre-ordering" go. No one wants to spend their vay-cay waiting in line for pins each day. The pre-order forms were available on the '07 WB TA and the '08 EB PC. The system worked GREAT! I need to write a letter and let them know how I feel about this as well. My sis missed her first dinner on the Dream because she was waiting in line for merchandise. Silly.


Well, enough of that.

Here's hoping that Hawaii is well worth the wait! Let the countdown begin!

Erica

Hi everyone,
Managed to book the 15 night Hawaii Cruise in 2012 and can't wait.
We have sailed with Disney many times. This will be our first trip to Hawaii, so excited!
Hope to see you all aboard.
Regards

Welcome to the party ! It's going to be a great cruise !

 

[castoff]

:
What is a scrapbook exchange? Is this for traditional or digital scrapbooking?

I didn't see a answer for your question and I would like to know also. I only traditional scrapbook.

Ummm hello... person making me fat by forcing me to eat Tim Tams... I put on about 5kg during the WBTA and subsequent WDW/DL... I really am going to have to try walking around the deck a bit more instead of plonking my expanding buttocks into a deck chair and watching people exercising...
Thanks, I have put a sign up on the spreadsheet for those interested.
Welcome, there are a fair few EBPC cruisers to you will see a few familiar faces.

I had never heard of Tim Tams and had to look it up. Now I wish I didn't. They look soooooo yummy. Fot those that don't know, here is what I found.

Tim Tams are chocolate biscuits made by Arnott's Biscuits, Australia. A Tim Tam is composed of two layers of chocolate malted biscuit, separated by a light chocolate cream filling, and coated in a thin layer of textured chocolate.

According to Arnott's, around 35 million packs are sold each year: nearly 400 million biscuits, an average of approximately 1.6 pcks per Zealander, 1.7 packs per Australian and 2.1 per New Caledonian.

Wish I could participate but I can't.

I am soooo excited about this cruise that I'm having a hard time concentrating on other things. I live right outside of Philly. Just wondering if there is anyone from the PA, NJ, NY, Baltimore etc area that might be interested in a Philly meet. It would be lots of fun.

Bev

It does sound like fun. I used to live closer.

 

[dolphingirl47]

Well to my immense surprise, I did get a reply from DCL today. It did not say a great deal, but it mentioned all the issues I raised so it could not have been a form letter. Essentially this letter could not have been written unless somebody read the my whole letter from start to finish. I call this a result. It did mention that my comments have been passed to the relevant managers.

Corinna

 

[jiminyC_fan]

Hey, we're also from the land of Oz, ok, so our Oz is short for Australia, but close....sort of

A man traveling in our group is from Australia as well.