April 9, 2009 Wonder 3-night Bahamas Cruise!

[Brandy C]

Thanks Deb T & Disney on a Dime for the warm welcome.

 

[Deb T.]

Thanks Deb T & Disney on a Dime for the warm welcome.

I noticed in your signature that you did the Mexican Riveria last July... which one? We were on the July 13-20 sailing!

 

[Deb T.]

We are packing! Thanks for the pixiedust! We are all very excited...the neighborhood is buzzing with the thought of being at the World in just a few days! We will let you know all about it when we return...then it is off to the cruise!

Have a great trip!

 

[Brandy C]

I noticed in your signature that you did the Mexican Riveria last July... which one? We were on the July 13-18 sailing!

We were on the July 20-27th cruise . I had a great time and I hope DCL will do this again in 2011. It was very convenient for us since we live in the LA area.

I'm eyeballing the 12/18/10 cruise and I hope to make a decision so I can book on board.

 

[kimkreis]

Ok for those of us who aren't Castaway Club members we get to sign up for things on Saturday right?

So what should a first time cruiser sign up for? Since it is our first time I think we will skip Palo.

I am tempted to book the Rasul because we will be celebrating our anniversary (15th!!!), but just getting some rain forest time might work too huh?

I think in Nassau we will do the city cruise, do some running around on our own and enjoy the boat.

Anyone want to suggest somethign else or change my mind on things?

 

[kimkreis]

Do we have a Pirate party on our cruise, or is the 3 day too short?

 

[Deb T.]

We definitely have a Pirate Party on the 3-night cruise!

It is typically held on Friday night - Nassau day. (It's my theory that the ship probably loads the pyrotechnics in Nassau so that we're not sailing all around with a cargo full of explosives!) If the weather is bad (rainy), the captain will attempt to sail to an area without rain so the party can go on as planned. On one of my Wonder sailings, it wasn't possible to steer clear of the rain so Pirate Night was postponed in it's entirety to Saturday night.

However, on our 7-night Mexican Riviera Magic cruise, it POURED on Pirate night so they moved the party (only the dancing) inside to the atrium. The next night they announced they'd shoot off the fireworks, but still never did the whole Pirate show, which was disappointing because we had seven kids between the ages of 5 & 7 sailing with us who'd never been on a Disney cruise before.

 

[Deb T.]

Ok for those of us who aren't Castaway Club members we get to sign up for things on Saturday right?

Yes - Saturday, at the magical hour of midnight, you can make reservations for excursions, the spa, Palo, and Flounder's Nursery. You have to be paid-in-full prior to booking anything online.

Sometimes, the DCL website plays not-so-funny tricks while trying to snag reservations. If you get an error message (like: "You are unable to book at this time because you are not paid in full or one or more birthdates are incorrect."), just log out of DCL, close that browser, open a new browser, and try again. It's happened to me and it's VERY frustrating! But, hang in there and keep trying!

 

[Deb T.]

So what should a first time cruiser sign up for? Since it is our first time I think we will skip Palo.

I am tempted to book the Rasul because we will be celebrating our anniversary (15th!!!), but just getting some rain forest time might work too huh?

I think in Nassau we will do the city cruise, do some running around on our own and enjoy the boat.

Anyone want to suggest somethign else or change my mind on things?

I agree that it's probably a good idea to skip Palo on your first Disney cruise, especially when it's a 3-night cruise. You definitely want to experience all three dining rooms!

The Rasul would be a great anniversary celebration activity. Just be sure to take several extra towels in with you.

IMHO, the Rain Forest is highly over-rated. Basically, it's just a bunch of heated stone (absolutely no padding, just hard stones) loungers around a nice fountain. There's no privacy because people are constantly wandering in and out to lay on the loungers, sit in the saunas, or take a shower. I've never understood why DCL charges people to spend time in there. I've found that I'd much rather lay outside in the fresh air and sunshine. I prefer either the adult pool area or Deck 10 above the family pool.

We've never done an actual excursion in Nassau, but I'm sure I'd like doing the harbor cruise. Once, we walked all over Nassau following DCL's map of recommended shops, but didn't end up buying anything. On two cruises, we've walked to the Straw Market. This time, I'm hoping to find a nice beach near the port to stroll on for an hour or so, then spend the rest of the day enjoying the ship. I'm secretly hoping there'll be a showing of Bolt in 3-D that day since we haven't seen that movie yet.

 

[kimkreis]

Yes - Saturday, at the magical hour of midnight, you can make reservations for excursions, the spa, Palo, and Flounder's Nursery. You have to be paid-in-full prior to booking anything online.

Thanks, I have a class to get to tomorrow morning and I was worried it would be at 7AM or something. I am paid in full so no problems. When would eb the best time to schedule te RAsul? I was kinda thinking of booking it for late afternoon on Nassau day. Are the kid's club open on Port day?

 

[Deb T.]

Thanks, I have a class to get to tomorrow morning and I was worried it would be at 7AM or something. I am paid in full so no problems. When would eb the best time to schedule te RAsul? I was kinda thinking of booking it for late afternoon on Nassau day. Are the kid's club open on Port day?

Yes, the kids clubs are open all day, every day.

The link below has Navigators posted from a September '08 sailing. Although all activities are subject to change, these Navigators can still give you a really good general idea of what's offered each day. Some things, such as the kids club hours, show rotation, dinner menu themes, breakfast & lunch hours, snack hours, shop hours, etc. stay pretty much the same on each cruise. All the extra activities, movies, and character greetings do tend to change from cruise to cruise.

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1965699

Happy Planning!

 

[kimkreis]

Well I got the Rasul for late afternoon on Nassau day, AND I got a couples massage on Castaway Cay!

Just filled out all of our paperwork! Now it's just a matter of waiting to see what my GTY room turns into!

 

[Deb T.]

Well I got the Rasul for late afternoon on Nassau day, AND I got a couples massage on Castaway Cay!

Just filled out all of our paperwork! Now it's just a matter of waiting to see what my GTY room turns into!

Hooray!!! I'm so happy for your good luck in scheduling the Rasul AND a Couples Massage!!! That's AWESOME!

 

[WDWCrazyfromGA]

Hello Everyone! My family is looking forward to our FIRST Disney Cruise April 9th!!

 

[Deb T.]

Hello Everyone! My family is looking forward to our FIRST Disney Cruise April 9th!!

Welcome aboard WDWCrazyfromGA! Thanks for joining us on our "Meets" thread! You're going to have a wonderful time on our cruise! If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask!

 

[Deb T.]

Fish Extender Gift Exchange

Hi!

I thought I'd bring everyone up-to-date on the status of our Fish Extender Gift Exchange. So far, the grand total of families participating is.... drum roll please.... two. Me ("Deb T.") and "Disney_On_A_Dime!". While I'm sure we'd enjoy the experience with just two families, it would most definitely be a lot more fun if we had more people participating. Please, please, please consider joining us!

 

[WDWCrazyfromGA]

Hi Deb! Thank you for the welcome! I have gotten so much good information from the boards since I booked the cruise - I am so excited!!

Could you explain the Fish Extenders? I have read the 'how to' make them and what they look like..........but what do you do with them?

 

[Deb T.]

Hi Deb! Thank you for the welcome! I have gotten so much good information from the boards since I booked the cruise - I am so excited!!

Could you explain the Fish Extenders? I have read the 'how to' make them and what they look like..........but what do you do with them?

Beside every cabin door is a large silver fish with an indentation in the back for cruise personnel to leave information, invitations, etc. I know the teenagers receive invitations to Teen Club activities and we've also received "rebooking onboard" price quotes tucked in our fish.

DISboarders have taken the silver fish one step further... by creating hanging pockets (much like letter holders) to hang from the fish - thus the name, "Fish Extender". The Fish Extenders (FEs) can be practically anything, as long as they have at least one pocket to hold goodies. My FE is just a plain little canvas bag I purchased at Michael's Craft Store. I traced a Mickey Mouse (three-circle) shape on the front with a black Sharpie and then colored it in with a lime green highlighter. (Lime green is the official color of the DIS Boards.) I'd love to have a "real" FE, but haven't taken the time to attempt to make one. On my DCL spring break cruise last year, one family used paper gift bags for their FEs, another family used a cloth bag with boats one it. Anything works!

Then, each "Cruise Meets" thread (such as this 4-9-09 one) organizes a little gift exchange during the cruise. People sign up by giving their cabin number, names of everyone in their cabin, and ages of the kids so that everyone will know how many gifts to bring and where to deliver them. Some people give one gift per family, some people give a little gift to each person. It's totally up to the giver to decide what to give and when to give it during the cruise.

There are several threads that discuss ideas for FE gifts. Some gifts are from Dollar Stores, some are handmade, and some are bought in bulk from websites that sell trinkets. Often, they are stickers, candy, glow sticks, lanyards, etc., with themes such as pirates, beach, cruise, tropical, hometown, holiday, etc. The main idea is just to have fun giving and finding little goodies in your FE throughout the cruise. The kids LOVE running back to their cabin to see if anything's been left in their FE. As an adult, I have to admit that I love it, too!!!

If you'd like to join in on the fun, please let me know. You can either post your information here in this thread or send me a private message by clicking on my name in the upper left hand corner of this post and then clicking "send a private message to Deb T.". As people join, I will send private messages to all participants to keep everyone up-to-date. Since some people are traveling earlier in the week of the cruise, I think we should close the list by April 1st to give everyone time to purchase their gifts and pack them. You'll also need to print the final list of participants and pack it with your gifts so you'll know where to deliver them.

 

[WDWCrazyfromGA]

Thank you Deb! I should have read the beginning of our thread for the 'what and how' - thanks for going though it again for me

This sounds like so much fun! I'm definately in for the FE!! I have a 'GTY' room - so do we get our room assignments prior to sailing so that I will be able to give that to you?

 

[WDWCrazyfromGA]

OK - I'm learning that I should read (and read some more) before I ask questions....I saw that we get room assignments approx 30 days out....

Now I've got to make a FE and get some goodie ideas - I'm already finding things to decorate our door!!