August 13, 2005

[starwood]

If I remember correctly 4:00 is the lifeboat drill and 4:30 is the sailaway party with actual sail away at 5:00. It's fun to watch the boat pull out. We are set for first seating dinner which means 6:00. Doesn't leave much time to meet.

I'm planning on buying DIS shirts for myself, DH and DS. We will wear them on embarkation day.

 

[rsjj]

starwood-what are dis shirts?

i read somewhere that people wear these green mickey head thing...not sure why they'd pick green...but sounded cute, so others can recognize them as dis-ers? was going to look into making them... anyone interested? no guarantees, yet. (it's just in the "research" state...) if i do decide on it, and if it's fairly simiple, i'd be more than happy to make some for you guys. although i'm not sure if DH would wear them. oh well...like i said, it's in the "research" state!

JayCee32-i did come across that. there was a thread on it, that i jumped into. didn't really look at it carefully, but had it saved, since it did look semi-interesting, at that moment. i'm going to go look into it, right after this...and will get back to you. from what i recall, it was all waterbased type activities. our boys don't really swim that well...(not really, actually!), that's why i tucked it away...although they love the water, and will be taking swimming lessons over the summer...

re: our meet...just tell me the day & time, i'll be there. we do have early seating as well. on our last trip, someone set it up for a day toward the beginning of our cruise. don't quite recall, maybe on a monday or tues...and it was in the afternoon, around 3 at the lounge with the portholes. (promenade lounge?) it wasn't crowded, very quiet! nice & relaxing, and wasn't "rushed". do you bring your family? last time, our DSs were napping, so DH had to stay, and couldn't come. do we want to do it on the first day? seems like it'd be so "rushed", with so much going on...how about the 2nd/3rd day? we'd all be at sea...there might be more time slots for "down time" that we can set up for? oh, but who really knows, w/out those navigators! maybe we'll wait for those traveling before us...hopefully they'd post some navigators, and we can see from there?

i have to go & look into excursions & decide on palo...wish me luck! will be back, as soon as i figure things out! oh, i just had another thought! how about having our meet for brunch/tea? that would leave the kids out, though...oh, i don't know! like i said, will be back!

 

[starwood]

The dis board has their own T-shirts
http://www.disshop.com/store.asp. I really don't care much for lime green so I think I will get grey, DS wants Lime green and I need to see what color DH wants. I also have the lime green mickey heads. If you have a home depot near you go the the paint department. They have disney paint. Get the paint chip for alien green.

DH said he would call the in-laws around noon and try to get our excursions set. My wish list is as follows

Cabo
Beachside horseback Riding
Cabo Resort Pool Getaway
Land's End Coastal Cruise

Mazatlan
Hacienda Las Moras Horseback Riding
Mexican Family Ranch Party

Puerto
Dolphin Swim/Observer

 

[rsjj]

hey guys! i got to book online! was browsing through the website, and they allowed me to do it! am so excited! you should all go & see. (maybe you've already done it...and i'm just behind!) oh well!

here's what we got...

pv-paradise beach
cabo-harbor cruise/coastal highlight

i'm so excited! and have you seen what's happening with that 14 day panama cruise? omg! i saw you, starwood! it's so exciting to hear/read/see everything they've posted!

will talk to you all soon!

 

[starwood]

I tried yesterday and it wouldn't let me do it. I found another problem. We are Castaway Club members so we can book 90 days out. MIL etc. are not so they shouldn't be able to book until 75 days out. I'm going to try calling them and see if they will let me book everybody at once.

Spoke with them last night. Cabo is still up in the air but we hope to do Dolphin Swim in Puerto and Horseback in Mazatlan.

I spent most of the day yesterday at that live update thread! I "almost" feel like I'm there.

OK - I found the problem with booking on line. I called and they said Costco didn't give them my Castaway Club #. They booked us but said to call back tomorrow for in-laws. She said that since we were traveling together she thought there should be some way to book them now but wasn't sure of how to do it.

 

[JayCee32]

I'm unhappy. I had LARGE post it notes and marked my calendar
for May 15th to booked our excurisons and I was told that they
changed there booking 2 weeks ago for people who never cruised
with Disney and who are not in suites or Castaway club members.
SInce we never cruised and did not book a suite nor are we castaway
club members we have towait 75 days before cruising.

Starwood - maybe you can tell them we are also in your group

I hope the excursions that I want my family and I to do won't be booked
up. In regards to the meet and greet I would like to bring the family only
b/c I would like for my DD and DS to meet everyone children who will be going . BUT if everyone agree to not bring the kids...I will take them to the club. I guess we can all wait for the time since we don't have our navi's yet. But we can set the destination tho. I will purchase a t-shirt if a few of you are going topurchase it. What day are you guys going to wear them?

 

[starwood]

JayCee32

I was planning on wearing the shirts embarkation day - so it might be easier for fellow DISers to spot. I'll tell them we are all in one group (maybe we can get a group rate that way ). I think it would be great for everyone to meet - children, spouses, In-laws. I ordered our shirts yesterday for myself, DH and DS. I also ordered some buttons and a lanyard (well there was free shipping for a $35 order! )

I'm getting so excited - I can't wait to go.

 

[bcnb103]

Hello to everyone and thank you JayCee for the info on the thread. We are going on our first cruise on Aug 13. It will be DH, DS10 and DD14. We are so excited, nervous you name it were at that point.
I will be doing my payoff dance next week. I called last week and was talking to DCL about the excursions and was asking about how fast they sell out and the woman checked for me on the dolphin excursion for this cruise and she said wait a min. when she came back she said ok you are all booked. I was shocked I said I didn't think I could book this early and also mentioned that I still had a final payment. She said that sometimes it lets them book it and sometimes it doesn't and that is why she tried. All I could do was thank her over and over again and then I went to my reservations page and printed it out so that there was no question about it being booked.
I have learned so much about cruising from this board it is a great tool. Thanks again to JayCee and to all the other disers for the info. Hope to be able to meet with you in 89 days and counting

 

[starwood]

bcnb103

Welcome - I'm so glad we're finding more people. My DS will be 13 when we sail and 2 nieces will be 12 and 14. Maybe DS and DN#1 can get to know your DD in the Stack.

 

[CamColt]

Welcome bcnb103!
Im glad you got to book your things. It makes me feel beter about having mine booked. I was worried something was up.

I hope the rest of you can get stuff booked soon. This is so exciting!!!!!

I love that this thread has more action now. Almost every time I check there are posts to it. I have to check more often. Woohoo!!!!

 

[starwood]

I called this morning and they still said I couldn't book for in-laws. She even asked her supervisor. She said 75 days out is Memorial Day but that they will be in and I should call at 9:00 a.m. on the dot to book them. I hope we can get them scheduled.

 

[JayCee32]

I wonder why they made this change. I just hope it's not
that many Castaway members that want to do my family
excursions :rofl: since they can book before me.

Does anyone have an idea of when I should book for Palo.
I know we havent received our Navi's ...Just wanted to know
cause I would like to make ressies for that.

They said you can register the kids in the programs. I am not
clear with that one...Are they going to give us the navi to
choose which activity or is this for Flounders Nursery?

I am planning on taking a class for the second summer session
but it conflicts with the Disney Cruise. I am going to ask my
professor if I can take the class even tho I will miss a week. My question
to everyone who has cruise with Disney....Will I have time to study
on the cruise or is it that much excitement where I may not have the
urge to pick up a book. I know everyone is different when it comes to
studying and I am not the one that can study late at night while the family
is sleep but I can study during the day when they are in the club and DH is
out drinking or playing basketball ...but from reading some threads people
sounds as if they are partying and having fun all day where there is not
a hour or two for quiet time My dh husband understands but he doesn't
really want me studying all week on the cruise. He wants me to enjoy
the cruise and not stress about school work. I can take the class next semester with no problem ...but I had rather take it in the summer.
What do u all think. I need at least 10 hours of studying for the week.
Thanks for reading I'm so excited.

Janae

 

[JayCee32]

Hey do u see that....I'm a "MOUSEKETEER"

 

[CamColt]

Congratulations, Mousketeer!

If you have just a book to study from, I would think you could sit out along deck 4 and have some peace and quiet. However if you have lots of books, papers, folders, etc... it might be a bit windy for that. Maybe one of the quiet lounges inside would work too. Do you have a verandah? Maybe spend a few afternoons out there. There good thing about a cruise is you can do as much or as little as you want.

I booked Palo for Thursday night, which I hear is semi formal night. I didnt want to miss formal night, but I figure going semi formal night will save me from getting the kids dressed up twice. Plus, if what I heard is correct the menu Im least interested is being served that night...but it sounds like they all might have changed. Im still confused on that one.

For the kids club you dont need to choose an activity to sign up for. You just register them once in the beginning(or online now) and they can come and go to the club at whatever times they want once they see the navigator and decide what they want to do. Flounders is what you need to sign up for certain times.

Hope this helps!

 

[rsjj]

welcome bcnb103!!

i hope dcl is saving a block of excursions/palo spot/etc for those who has to book later! cuz i don't think it'd be fair, that they won't get a "fair chance" at booking for what they want. so maybe that's what they're doing, and when your 75 days come up, there'd be a block of excursions/palo spot/etc "released" so you can book them...

it's nice, with all this online booking thing...now we don't have to rush to get to places to book for anything! we can just go on the ship, have lunch, and go swimming, or exploring the ship, or whatever! what time are you guys planning on getting to the terminal? any ideas?

 

[CamColt]

We plan on getting picked up at the Disneyland Hotel around 9:30 (I think, I found my confirmation numbers, but I didnt write down the times...duh!). So however long it takes to get there from DL....Im guessing we will be there by 10:30. It IS such a relief not to have to worry about running here and there to book things. That really makes the first day more like a vacation day. Bring on the pina coladas!

 

[starwood]

The Disney transportation is supposed to take us around 12:00 but I'm going to see when we check in on Thursday if we can get on an earlier bus. DH isn't that kean on doing Palo and the only spa I think I want to do is the Rainforest. I hope I can get the in-laws excursions set - then I can relax.

My DIS shirts have shipped so at least 3 people on board will be wearing them.

 

[JayCee32]

rsjj- they said they will have several spots blocked but I am not sure how many. I hope it's alot. Now that my dd wants to swim with Dolphins I am going to have to wake up Pacific time at 5:00 am and make my reservations.

From Anaheim (Disneyland) to the Port will be about 35-45 minutes depending on the traffic. it's not long at all. The port is not in LA it's close to a Harbor City and there's no Traffic going that way. Not far at all. (Starwood or Cam)
I can't remember whose staying in Anaheim

Can someone tell me the nights for formal/semi formal/ tropical etc. I think someone post the order before. I am trying to book Palo. The semi formal night does sound like a good night to go to Palo.

 

[JayCee32]

Thanks for the info in regards to studying Cam.
I do have a verandah so that's where I will study. Just one book and a notebook to take notes. I think I'll be okay....but I do get kind of hyper when I go on vacations meaning I find myself running around every where to see everything and making sure I havent missed anything. The cruise is way too expensive to miss anything

 

[CamColt]

rsjj- they said they will have several spots blocked but I am not sure how many. I hope it's alot. Now that my dd wants to swim with Dolphins I am going to have to wake up Pacific time at 5:00 am and make my reservations.

From Anaheim (Disneyland) to the Port will be about 35-45 minutes depending on the traffic. it's not long at all. The port is not in LA it's close to a Harbor City and there's no Traffic going that way. Not far at all. (Starwood or Cam)
I can't remember whose staying in Anaheim

Can someone tell me the nights for formal/semi formal/ tropical etc. I think someone post the order before. I am trying to book Palo. The semi formal night does sound like a good night to go to Palo.

Where/when is your DD doing the dolphin swim?

Thanks for that info. I have a feeling we will be there early but thats ok.

From what I heard(dont know if its true), formal night is Sunday, semiformal is Thursday and Pirate night is Puerta Vallarta day (Tues, I think).