Aug.19/04 cruise

[Mahreeya]

Hi, Mickeymom!

So happy you have joined out little discussion board!

I have no problem with numbers- I will be 44 on August 9th. Niece Samantha is 7 1/2. I invited my 80 year old mom to come on the trip too. She is still thinking about it. We are heading out of NY on the 17th or the 18th of August, from LaGuardia.

I am going to rent a car at Orlando Airport. I still have to find out about it; and I was wondering how much it would be to park the car at the pier at Port Canaveral. Mike, do you know?

Mickeymom, are you early dinner seating or late? Maybe we can arrange to all sit at the same table?

I just love discussing the cruise!!!!!
:

 

[mickeymom923]

Great to hear from you. I will be 51 on 9/23 and my mom is 86. We're from Philly and flying out of Phila International on 8/18/04. We're flying into Orlando and I will rent a car, spend a few hours in Orlando (so I can get that Disney feeling) and drive over to Port Canaveral after dinner. I thought it would be easier for my mom to already be close to the port so we won't have to rush in the morning. I believe we have late sitting. We did the Disney Wonder last August to celebrate my 50th birthday and we all loved it so much, I decided to go back again. It would be great if your mom came too. My mom said it was the best cruise that she was on. Anyway, hopefully we can meet either in PC before the cruise depending on your plans or atleast on the ship. By the way, parking at Port Canaveral is about $10 a day. Some hotels offer free parking and shuttle service to and from the port.

 

[m-sjaxjag]

With all these September birthdays sounds like there may be a bunch of early celebrations on board.

Parking is $10 a night at PC ($30 for our cruise), since we are driving down I had already checked.

Mickeymom - Is anyone in your group doing any of the onshore excursions??

Hopefully some other cruisers will be jumping on the list as we get closer.

 

[Mahreeya]

Mickeymom, are you keeping your rental car to get from the cruise to Orlando airport? (leaving it at the hotel?). Or returning the car and taking a shuttle to the airport? I just got a price for Enterprise at about 30 bucks a day, and I have a $20 off coupon. Then I will either park it for 3 days for $30, or try to find a hotel like your that will keep the car for 3 days. That sounds better. I am trying to find out the cost of the transfer. I am confused as to what to do.

 

[drcpn7]

Hi all!!
We are joining you too!! Our group has 6 kids,,,9,11,15,15,17 and 17...any other teenagers out there for my kids to get to know earlier? We are first time cruisers too!! We may be a boat of all newbies!! We are going to the parks first and hope to relax and enjoy the boat.We are not doing any shore excurisons being that it is our first time we want to check everything out slowly!Thanks!!
Crystal

 

[m-sjaxjag]

drcpn7 -

WOW thats a big group, WELCOME to the gang. Our DIS group keeps getting bigger and bigger.

I think there are a couple of other teenagers on this list.

Hopefully others will keep popping in over the next couple of weeks.

 

[mickeymom923]

This is so great that more people are responding. Now that it's finally August, I'm so excited. My DD is more excited now that she knows that there are other teens going. We have the late seating. Haven't booked anything. I just want to enjoy relaxing on the ship, the beach and hopefully meeting some new DIS friends.
Cya real soon.

 

[Mahreeya]

Thanks for all the information: I think I have figured out what to do, regarding transportation.

I got a good rate at Enterprise Car rental: $112 for 5 days;
The Comfort Inn at Cocoa Beach is about 69 a night, with free parking and a free shuttle. The first night we want to stay near Universal and I found a hotel for about $40. So the total would be about $222 to keep the rental car and drive back to the airport. By the way, if I do keep the car and drive it back to Orlando airport, there will room for 2 or 3 people depending on the car size, in case anybody is interested.

Mahreeya.
(Good thing Mike has the countdown clock going!)

 

[juliejoyce]

Hi Mareeya....did I come close to spelling that (wright)..as you can see not likely. Julie and I (her dad Paul) are also at the 2nd seating for dinner. We are reserved at the dolphin encounter but I am still not sure about this. Is there any sense to put the kids in the clubs on such a short trip? What will you do? Well we will see you guys in 2 weeks.

 

[Mahreeya]

I am testing the clock to see if it is my computer or me or whatever.

 

[Mahreeya]

Hi Paul, good to hear from you. When Samantha saw the Disney Cruise DVD, she made it clear to me that she was going to join all the kiddies things, and that she would (maybe) have dinner with me at night! She is very social, loves to make new friends. I was worried about being left alone, but from this forum, I already have friends. We have to find a way to get together right away.

So to the rest of the AUGUST 19, 2004 DISNEY WONDER CRUISERS, any ideas on how to get together???? A meeting place on the ship? Everybody wear mouse ears and meet by the mickey slide?

We dont have much time left!!!

 

[mickeymom923]

Mahreeya, Paul, Mike and everyone else,
Mouse ears by Mickey's pool will be great. What time and what day? We will hopefully be on the ship by 1. Still trying to finalize car rentals etc. I wish my "fairy godmother" would wave her wand and decide for me. LOL. Paul, I saw that you are from Toronto. My cousins live in Toronto and we were there for 4 days over our Thanksgiving in November. It's a really nice place and we hope to vacation there someday.

 

[mickeymom923]

Mahreeya,
I never thought about using Enterprise. That sounds like a great price. I'm going to call them.I have a reservation at the Radisson in Cocoa Beach that cost about $99. I'll check out the Comfort Inn if they offer free shuttle service. Not to mention your price is better. Thanks for your info. Will you be getting to Cocoa Beach on the 18th? Did your mom decide to go?

Paul, when are you flying in and what are your plans?


Everyone else on the Wonder 8/19/04 - what are your plans?

Bev

 

[m-sjaxjag]

Sounds like just about everyone got late seating for dinner. Maybe we will get lucky and be close together.

Our DD also made it clear she wants to spend some time in the club. So far there haven't been any posts from someone in her age group (5 in Sept). Hopefully soon.

I guess we will have to find some mouse ears , they are not part of our regular wardrobe.

We are driving down (only a couple hours from home) Thursday morning. We expect to be at the port by 11am or so. This should get us on the ship plenty early to eat, get signed up for stuff (club and spa, no Palo's this time ), swim a bit and explorer a little before the boat drill.

See everyone soon !!

 

[Mahreeya]

Bev, if you stay at the Comfort Inn on the night of the 18th, we will definitely have to meet! I told my mom about your mom. I didn't get a reply. She could be more for me to handle than my niece. I think I will keep it just the two of us. By the way, the Comfort Inn deal was an internet deal. I can't remember how I got there, must have done a search on Google. And the Enterprise rate is good becuase I have a $20 coupon from my last rental. But there are good deals to be had, just keep looking. So far those are the only decisions I have made. We are not even sure if we will be arriving on the 17th or the 18th, if we are going to Universal or to Cocoa Beach.

Paul, I have read on other boards that the Dolphin encounter is not that good; and even tho they say the Stingray isn't either, that is the one we might take. I would prefer to stay on the ship, and that is still an option. I have been to Nassau, once was enough. (By the way, do you dance?)

The Mickey Ears was a joke, but if it works for us, let's do it! I plan to be the first on the ship, sitting by the pool, with a cool drink in my hand and mouse ears on my head!

Maria

 

[m-sjaxjag]

Just bumping this to the top.

Getting close there must be others out there !!

 

[Mahreeya]

Iam home "sick" today. Got rear-ended on the Belt Parkway yesterda, with a minivan full of people. I am ok, just a wreck. My car got damaged; can't open the hatch. So I need some cheering up. Let's talk packing. I want to take the least amount of stuff as possible. A small wheeled bag, a carryon bag, and a back pack, even though I have a packing list 2 pages long. You should see the "what to pack" board that I started at cruisecritic.com. It has taken on a life of its own, but it has some funny ideas.

I look forward everyday to the new messages. Can we post photos of ourselves?

 

[m-sjaxjag]

Marie -

Sorry to hear about your car accident. Glad you were able to be be home "sick" and recover.

We have started on our packing list too. There were a couple of items I really liked from other lists we found:

Another tip: pack what you think you will need...then take out 50%.

5. Pack 60% less than you think you need.



My wife did not think they were too funny !! I am a very light packer and she isn't. I am sure it will be a little harder for you, packing and carrying for 2. At least we can share the load. It looks like we are going to have 2 larger suitcases for all 3 of us (maybe a garment bag for hanging stuff, haven't decided on that yet). Plus a couple of small carry on's for suits, papers, camera stuff etc.

We are so used to having everything with us when we camp (with our mini house I mean camper) that this is tough for us. This will actually be the very first vacation ever that we have taken that we don't have to do anything but have fun. Even we go out west to snow ski we rent a condo or house so there is cooking, washing etc. This will be a BIG change for us.

Talk to everyone later !!!

 

[juliejoyce]

Hi Guys.

Sorry to hear about your accident Mahreeya. We will fly into Fort Lauderdale and spend a fews days at Vero Beach before heading to Port Canaveral on the Thursday morning. I just bought a blue baseball type cap that says Canada across the front so that will be my mouse ears. As for me dancing well I guess I am on vacation so anything is possible. I think I will just keep all our options open with regards to the kids clubs and excursions until we are there. See you in a couple weeks.

 

[Mahreeya]

A good thing to get for the cruise is some kind of lanyard to wear around your neck to carry your room key. That's about all you have to carry around on the ship. People on other boards say to get a hole punched into the room key by the purser, and attach it to the lanyard that way.

Another good idea is to bring hi-lighter pens. Every night you get an itinerary of what is going on the next day, and it can be hard to keep track of. So you hi light what you want to do, and when it is scheduled.

This is my fifth cruise, and I thought that the first timer's would appreciate this.