Ash the Shubman/DISAddict dares to Dream of a Double Dip

[MagicMe]

We interrupt this PTR for this important announcement:

*in hushed, rushed legal disclaimer voice*

By continuing to read this trip report, reader acknowledges and agrees that due to the nature of family travel obligations, this Trip Report will be delayed upon the conclusion of this cruise. Reader further agrees not to take any action in response or protest including but not limited to, yelling, screaming, demanding more chapters, joining angry mobs with pitchforks and torches.

*disclaimer voice ends*

Hummm, no fair! You hooked us in before you posted the disclaimer!!!!

 

[ashman]

One of the greatest things about cruises are cruise meet threads, or so I've been told! I haven't really had a ton of experience with them! I tried to start one for the first cruise I went on. Sad and pathetic doesn't begin to describe it! Go here if you want a glimpse at the sorriest Cruise Meet thread in the history of Cruise Meet Threads. Most of the posts are me bumping, hoping in vain that someone would come out and play!

I got a few sympathy posts from readers of my first trip report. One lady did hop on towards the end. In the end, is was a fizzle! On that cruise there was a convention for a company so I was guessing (trying to sooth my bruised ego really) that most weren't DIS savvy so not too many people to hop on the thread!

So my second cruise, I was traveling with extended family and just didn't really think about it. Not sure why, just didn't.


But that has all changed for this one! That thread got started in November of 2009! I stumbled across it and posted on it for the first time on June 17, 2010. By that time there was already 44 pages and 659 posts!

This seems like a real fun bunch! Now we are up to 228 pages and 3407 posts! Which I' sure will become outdated by the time I finish this entry! Click here to get a glimpse of some awesome cruisemates! It is exciting to have so many DIS'ers along for the ride. Of course the down side is, I won't necessarily have the "inside track" with so many co-DIS'ers but I think in the end it will be all good!



Oh and by the way, this time next week, I'm on Castaway Cay! WOOT WOOT!

 

[Fab5Family]

One of the greatest things about cruises are cruise meet threads, or so I've been told! I haven't really had a ton of experience with them! I tried to start one for the first cruise I went on. Sad and pathetic doesn't begin to describe it!

But that has all changed for this one! That thread got started in November of 2009! I stumbled across it and posted on it for the first time on June 17, 2010. By that time there was already 44 pages and 659 posts!

This seems like a real fun bunch! Now we are up to 228 pages and 3407 posts! Which I' sure will become outdated by the time I finish this entry! Click here to get a glimpse of some awesome cruisemates! It is exciting to have so many DIS'ers along for the ride. Of course the down side is, I won't necessarily have the "inside track" with so many co-DIS'ers but I think in the end it will be all good!



Oh and by the way, this time next week, I'm on Castaway Cay! WOOT WOOT!

On our first cruise we had a total of three families on our meet thread. One nice thing though, it turned out one of the families lived about 20 miles away from us and had a son around the ages of our boys ... so we actually had a pre-cruise meet for dinner here in the DFW metroplex.

I agree that we seem to have an awesome group for our cruise next week. I am so looking forward to meeting you and all of our other buddies (many of whom have already posted here in your trip report).

 

[tracy51]

Just because I'm a joiner... another nut here I have to join in the celebration

Ashman - I'm loving the pics you're posting. Please, please, please tell me you are going to take another picture of the girls getting on the ship (and post it on here for us to see )

Can't wait to meet you and all my fellow nuts next week!

 

[ashman]

Just because I'm a joiner... another nut here I have to join in the celebration

Ashman - I'm loving the pics you're posting. Please, please, please tell me you are going to take another picture of the girls getting on the ship (and post it on here for us to see )

Can't wait to meet you and all my fellow nuts next week!

I certainly hope to, IF they cooperate, last time, they were running up the gangway they were so excited! Can't say they I blame them!

 

[Steven41782]

I didn't participate in the cruise meet thread at all for our first cruise. This time i've tried to be interactive, but there are so many it's hard to rememeber who's lives where and which kids go with which screen name, etc. But, it's fun to follow along.

Enjoying your pre-trippie.

 

[Tink rules]

One of the greatest things about cruises are cruise meet threads, or so I've been told! I haven't really had a ton of experience with them! I tried to start one for the first cruise I went on. Sad and pathetic doesn't begin to describe it! Go here if you want a glimpse at the sorriest Cruise Meet thread in the history of Cruise Meet Threads. Most of the posts are me bumping, hoping in vain that someone would come out and play!

I got a few sympathy posts from readers of my first trip report. One lady did hop on towards the end. In the end, is was a fizzle! On that cruise there was a convention for a company so I was guessing (trying to sooth my bruised ego really) that most weren't DIS savvy so not too many people to hop on the thread!

So my second cruise, I was traveling with extended family and just didn't really think about it. Not sure why, just didn't.


But that has all changed for this one! That thread got started in November of 2009! I stumbled across it and posted on it for the first time on June 17, 2010. By that time there was already 44 pages and 659 posts!

This seems like a real fun bunch! Now we are up to 228 pages and 3407 posts! Which I' sure will become outdated by the time I finish this entry! Click here to get a glimpse of some awesome cruisemates! It is exciting to have so many DIS'ers along for the ride. Of course the down side is, I won't necessarily have the "inside track" with so many co-DIS'ers but I think in the end it will be all good!



Oh and by the way, this time next week, I'm on Castaway Cay! WOOT WOOT!

rub it in... go ahead!!!


Anyway... I got VERY spoiled because my first Dismeets thread was the WB Panama Canal cruise... (pre cruise we were posting over 50 pages a day... all planning, etc. Lanyards were arranged... FE's, and a whole bunch of great events while we were away. The Cruise was Fantastic!!! We have stayed friends and we are up to our 35th thread now !!! There are about 40 of us who still keep in touch. We've celebrated weddings, births, deaths, holidays and we still vacation with each other... I think the longer or the specialty cruises get more traffic... I'm looking at a cruise for the next few months and they have 54 pages - in 2 years... Snooze!!!!!

 

[ashman]

One of the neatest things about a family trip are the pictures you take to remember the trip by. The problem with many pictures is they are posed. Action shots are great but sometimes hard to get unless you have a really great high end camera. My favorite ones are the candid shots. A brief glimpse of the "reality" of the moment. A shot of a dear one embracing and enjoying the moment. Here is one of my favorite shots from our last DCL trip. My oldest, enjoying a window seat:

 

[abitagirl916]

One of the neatest things about a family trip are the pictures you take to remember the trip by. The problem with many pictures is they are posed. Action shots are great but sometimes hard to get unless you have a really great high end camera. My favorite ones are the candid shots. A brief glimpse of the "reality" of the moment. A shot of a dear one embracing and enjoying the moment. Here is one of my favorite shots from our last DCL trip. My oldest, enjoying a window seat:

Great picture Ashley!

 

[ashman]

For the cruise we went on with my folks last summer, my girls made matching dresses, with some help from mom. You've seen them already but they are so dog gone cute, I'm posting the pic again:

And here is a shot of the dresses that they finished making today for this trip:

Man do I have cuties in my house!

 

[Scouter]

One of the greatest things about cruises are cruise meet threads, or so I've been told! I haven't really had a ton of experience with them! I tried to start one for the first cruise I went on. Sad and pathetic doesn't begin to describe it! Go here if you want a glimpse at the sorriest Cruise Meet thread in the history of Cruise Meet Threads. Most of the posts are me bumping, hoping in vain that someone would come out and play!

I got a few sympathy posts from readers of my first trip report. One lady did hop on towards the end. In the end, is was a fizzle! On that cruise there was a convention for a company so I was guessing (trying to sooth my bruised ego really) that most weren't DIS savvy so not too many people to hop on the thread!

So my second cruise, I was traveling with extended family and just didn't really think about it. Not sure why, just didn't.


But that has all changed for this one! That thread got started in November of 2009! I stumbled across it and posted on it for the first time on June 17, 2010. By that time there was already 44 pages and 659 posts!

This seems like a real fun bunch! Now we are up to 228 pages and 3407 posts! Which I' sure will become outdated by the time I finish this entry! Click here to get a glimpse of some awesome cruisemates! It is exciting to have so many DIS'ers along for the ride. Of course the down side is, I won't necessarily have the "inside track" with so many co-DIS'ers but I think in the end it will be all good!



Oh and by the way, this time next week, I'm on Castaway Cay! WOOT WOOT!

It has been a lot of fun meeting everyone on our thread
But I've got to tell you that with our last group the BOB'ers we had 30 threads each consisting of 250 pages! Every night you'd have to catch up about 12 page in a day!

Needless to say, we've all gotten really close and I'm cruising with 2 of those same families on this cruise!
KSFrogge and disgrits

 

[Scouter]

For the cruise we went on with my folks last summer, my girls made matching dresses, with some help from mom. You've seen them already but they are so dog gone cute, I'm posting the pic again:

And here is a shot of the dresses that they finished making today for this trip:

Man do I have cuties in my house!

They are so cute
Now I'm seeing though that as they're getting older they're not looking like twins as much as those older photos.

 

[ashman]

Now that I've got that earworm firmly buried into you subconscious, allow me to share an observation. For me, as a teacher, the last two months have really flown by, just a lot of stuff going on bang bang one right after the other. Last week was the final work week for teachers. This week I have had completely open, no real obligations other than get ready for this trip and take kids to sports camps. This week has slowed WAAAAAYYYYYYYY down! Now part of me wants to hurry things up, to get to Sunday, to get on the ship but a larger part of me knows it will come and go way too soon. I want to enjoy the slowness of these days, to recharge, refresh, and renew my spirit. It is something I hope I get better at as time passes.

 

[abitagirl916]

Now that I've got that earworm firmly buried into you subconscious, allow me to share an observation. For me, as a teacher, the last two months have really flown by, just a lot of stuff going on bang bang one right after the other. Last week was the final work week for teachers. This week I have had completely open, no real obligations other than get ready for this trip and take kids to sports camps. This week has slowed WAAAAAYYYYYYYY down! Now part of me wants to hurry things up, to get to Sunday, to get on the ship but a larger part of me knows it will come and go way too soon. I want to enjoy the slowness of these days, to recharge, refresh, and renew my spirit. It is something I hope I get better at as time passes.

I totally agree with you, Ashley. I want Sunday to hurry up and get here, but then I want the rest of the week to go by slowly.

 

[Steven41782]

Us three! Sometimes it's funner to look forward to vacaiton rather than backward at it.

 

[JKSWonder]

So, I am stepping forward and proclaiming myself as a past lurker of your trip reports!

I had read your first DCL report when I was investigating whether or not a DCL cruise would be a good vacation option for us. Primarily because your eldest daughter is close in age to my own (DD is now 10). Your trip report gave me a great kids perspective of the whole cruise experience, and helped to sell me on the idea, so thank you!

I've since read your other reports, including (in hushed tones) your report from that OTHER line.

We now have two cruise under our belts, a Wonder 4 day and a 7 day Western Magic, with our third - a 7 day Eastern Fantasy - scheduled for August 2012!

Loved the video of your girls. We surprised our DD with a WDW trip for her birthday in March 2008 and her reaction was, shall we say, less than exciting. Your girls' reaction was a hoot, especially the part where I think after they rolled around in glee, hugging on the floor, one said to the other "Now, get off me!" That is exactly something I would expect my DD to say to her brother (age 5).

Looking forward to reading along and hearing about how your family liked the Dream. I'm really interested in how SweetChild likes the tween club, if she goes there, as my DD will be 11 when we go on the Fantasy. What category cabin did you book this time?

 

[ashman]

So, I am stepping forward and proclaiming myself as a past lurker of your trip reports!

I had read your first DCL report when I was investigating whether or not a DCL cruise would be a good vacation option for us. Primarily because your eldest daughter is close in age to my own (DD is now 10). Your trip report gave me a great kids perspective of the whole cruise experience, and helped to sell me on the idea, so thank you!

I've since read your other reports, including (in hushed tones) your report from that OTHER line.

We now have two cruise under our belts, a Wonder 4 day and a 7 day Western Magic, with our third - a 7 day Eastern Fantasy - scheduled for August 2012!

Loved the video of your girls. We surprised our DD with a WDW trip for her birthday in March 2008 and her reaction was, shall we say, less than exciting. Your girls' reaction was a hoot, especially the part where I think after they rolled around in glee, hugging on the floor, one said to the other "Now, get off me!" That is exactly something I would expect my DD to say to her brother (age 5).

Looking forward to reading along and hearing about how your family liked the Dream. I'm really interested in how SweetChild likes the tween club, if she goes there, as my DD will be 11 when we go on the Fantasy. What category cabin did you book this time?

First of all thanks for posting! I appreciated your comments. Yeah MiniMe's "Now get off me" was a great glimpse of who she is! Too funny!

The clubs are one area that are a bit of a wild card. We have only been on 3 night Wonder trips before. First cruise we literally did not set a foot into the clubs, just didn't happen. The second time both went to one thing but it wasn't a big part of the trip. I think on this trip, with a bit more time on our hands, we may get a better glimpse of it.

We booked a Cat 9B cabin. Our room number is 2552 which is midship, lowest deck. I was a bit bummed about this at first because it seems like we are a long ways away but my wife is prone to motion sickness so I am thinking that a low cabin in the middle of the ship will be best for her. Time will tell and I guess so will I when we get back!

 

[LuvEeyore]

okay...i am ready for your trip to be over so I can cruise vicariouslythrough you!! How is the packing coming/ Are the kids excited yet?
Have a great trip!! Be safe!

 

[ashman]

okay...i am ready for your trip to be over so I can cruise vicariouslythrough you!! How is the packing coming/ Are the kids excited yet?
Have a great trip!! Be safe!

The kids were pretty mellow for a while. Looking forward to it, but pretty mellow. Spring was busy with soccer, school and lots of other things. Now that soccer is over (last Saturday) and school has been out for two weeks now, they are REALLY excited. They made their own countdown poster. Yesterday they made some Mickey Tye Dye Shirts (don't worry pics are coming! )

Packing? It hasn't started yet. We will do that tomorrow I guess. We usually just try to make sure we have enough swim suits and they have been at the pool so much we can't pack them yet.

Thanks for the well wishes! I've some goodies to post today. You may hear from me tomorrow, but after that I will probably be off grid until after the trip. No way I'm paying for internet on the ship, too rich for me. For what it would cost me to keep my TR updated on the ship, I could book another cruise! I love you guys, but not that much!

 

[ashman]

We got a new camera that you take underwater pics and video. I played a bit with it on the mac enjoy!