August 18, 2010...Can't wait for the MAGICal Mediterranean!!!

[mindelmouse]

where folks can find it.

 

[bigbootee]

where folks can find it.

Didn't seem to work.

OK anyone out there sailing with us??? Suites are sold out. That's at least 22 staterooms worth of people. Anyone besides the families who have posted already?

 

[ejw]

just wanted to wish everyone Happy Holidays and a Happy New Year.

we are driving down to florida on wednesday and will be spending some time at disney in addition to visiting family. magic kingdom is a great place to be on new year's eve.

ellen

 

[mindelmouse]

just wanted to wish everyone Happy Holidays and a Happy New Year.

we are driving down to florida on wednesday and will be spending some time at disney in addition to visiting family. magic kingdom is a great place to be on new year's eve.

ellen

Enjoy New Years Eve and think of us back of North freezing our tails off.

 

[ejw]

Enjoy New Years Eve and think of us back of North freezing our tails off.

thanks, Mindy. It is incredibly cold out today. I checked the weather forecast for the orlando area and it is ranging from the mid-70s to lower 80s.
I wasn't expecting it to be so warm. looks like we'll have to pack some shorts.

ellen

 

[bigbootee]

thanks, Mindy. It is incredibly cold out today. I checked the weather forecast for the orlando area and it is ranging from the mid-70s to lower 80s.
I wasn't expecting it to be so warm. looks like we'll have to pack some shorts.

ellen

It was 13 here this morning. Just like summer in Buffalo.

 

[MinnieDiva]

It finally got into the 30's here today. We moved here from CO to get away from the snow and cold, and it followed us here. We've gotten more than a foot of snow and until today, it's been about 22 degrees. A rarity here, I'm told...
enjoy FL....I'm so jealous!
kim

 

[jns]

Merry Christmas to everyone

Hope Santa is good to you all
Have a great Christmas and a Very Happy New Year

Jackie and Michael and boys xx

 

[clarasunnyside]

I am wishing everyone a great holiday. I hope santa takes care of all of you.

 

[MinnieDiva]

We are all now officially under 600 days until the cruise!!!
kim

 

[mindelmouse]

Yea....it's getting closer - as much as I want to go, I don't want it to come too soon, this last year flew and the faster the years seems, the faster the trip is over....

 

[mindelmouse]

HOPE YOUR YEAR IS FILLED WITH PIXIE DUST DREAMS

 

[MinnieDiva]

So....I just booked 3 nights at Disneyland!!! I get a Disney fix!! Myself, my DD, and DF (is that correct? My dad..??) are going for 3 nights the last week of March. I'm originally from the Bay Area, so I've been to DL several times, but we moved away in 1999, and never got to see all the new construction and the new park! I've been waiting and waiting for hotel discounts out there, but absolutely nothing has come up. After the podcast where the crew recommended the Candy Cane Inn, I decided to check it out and it looks awesome! And sooooooooooo much cheaper!! DH decided that he's a bit Disney'ed out (is that possible? ) and is going to do mountain goat activities somewhere as yet undetermined. DD is unaware of the plans, and I may keep her in the dark for now!
kim

 

[mindelmouse]

Kim - your trip to DL sounds wonderful. Lucky you, I've never been there, but hope to some day. I've actually never been further west than Scottsdale, AZ.

So I've been reading the forum boards on the comparison between DCL and other companies for the Med cruise. I'm hearing that we're paying a lot of money to be shuttled from port to port and that we won't have time to enjoy the Disney Experience. Now I'm getting nervous. We put down a $3,200 non refundable deposit to have a suite. Are we insane or are we doing the right thing? Should we rethink it and move our deposit to another DCL cruise and go to the med with someone else. Would appreciate any input.....

 

[MinnieDiva]

So...I looked at Travelocity and looked at similar cruises for 2009, as Disney is the only line into 2010. I specifically looked at Celebrity, and a similar room for a 10-day is $2000 less. However, they wanted an additional 2 grand if you wanted them to do airfare, compared to the $1500 you stated Disney quoted you. So, considering you have a suite, yeah, I'm sure you're looking at a few more thousand dollars difference. Incidentally, I think the most expensive room they had was about $18,000 (for 1 kid, not 2).
So, it leads me to ask you this.....what do you want out of this vacation? You indicate that you're concerned about "the Disney Experience". What does this mean to you? Are you more inclined to spend less time onshore and more time on the boat? Or are you planning to get off the boat and spend every minute on either an excursion or soaking up the local culture?
Here's why we're opting to pay more:
1. I love Disney. My DD loves Disney. My husband tolerates it because it makes us happy.
2. DD will only be 7 when we go. For us, that translates into her possibly not accompanying us on a few shore excursions (I think Florence is a bit over her head, for example). So, armed with that knowledge, we want her to have a great time while in the kid's clubs. I feel that Disney has the best approach to entertaining children when compared to other lines.
3. We are familiar with and spoiled by Disney customer-forward attitudes.
4. On-boat activities are family-focused and I'm not overly worried about DD being exposed to age-inappropriate content.
5. The food is varied and of decent quality.
6. The staterooms are some of the biggest in the industry. Which leads me to this question for you....how much time are you and the kids going to be in the room. Granted, I have only 1, but I have very little intention of being in the room. I might stay in it more if I had a balcony, but I'm probably going to be coerced to be near the pool! We got an ocean-view room (porthole variety, not balcony) only because I'm claustrophobic and have no idea how it would go not having a view of the outside world.
So anywho, I feel the price tag pain, but we (read, me) gave this a lot of thought. We'd planned on going this summer, but with the move from CO to WA last year, we knew we'd have to out it off. So, when the new itinerary was announced, our travel agent already had the info she needed to get us booked. I cannot wait to experience Disney in a foreign country!

Oh, and I've never been to NJ!

Sorry to be so verbose...
kim

 

[mindelmouse]

That was a well thought out response and I appreciate it. My husband liked the idea of the bigger room and the concierge, it just made life a lot easier for us. We plan on taking the excursions and seeing the sights. My twins will be 9 and I'm hoping they want to go...my son is very into history and geography and talks about Italy all the time. We will be on the ship in the evenings and the 2 days at sea. I discussed it with DH and he feels that it;s worth the extra money to go with Disney....The reason I did Disney for our first family cruise is because my son who has ADHD is very impulsive and I was afraid of (don't laugh) him falling off the ship. When I heard Disney had plexiglass on the rails, that sold me. I was so comfortable on our cruise. When on board, he never even went near the rails because he was so busy swimming or in the kids club.

Thanks for the input...I have a lot of thinking to do.

 

[MinnieDiva]

We stayed concierge last year at the resorts; I can't even imagine how wonderful it would be on the ships!!

As far as your kids go.....I remember when I was 9, my parents took me out of school to go see an exhibit in San Francisco of the Vatican. I was, even at the young age of 9, blown away. To this day, the memory of that exhibit is burned into my brain! I know my DD is probably too young to really appreciate it, but that is the one tour I'm going to force the issue on. Somewhere at my dad's house is the book we bought as a souvenir. I'm going to have to dig it up in March when we get there (after the Mouse house, of course! ). It's going to become required reading for the kindergarten set!

Good luck with your decision...
kim

 

[clarasunnyside]

Just wanted to put my two cents in. Disney is more expensive, but from my experience the "Disney experience" is just amazing and well worth the extra money.
And on those two days @ sea they make sure to keep everyone, the kids and the adults busy if that's what you want, and theres also places that are just quiet to do nothing if that's what you want.
I did the Seven day cruise and got to see the great sites of the different places we went to and also got the "Disney experience".

Clara

That was a well thought out response and I appreciate it. My husband liked the idea of the bigger room and the concierge, it just made life a lot easier for us. We plan on taking the excursions and seeing the sights. My twins will be 9 and I'm hoping they want to go...my son is very into history and geography and talks about Italy all the time. We will be on the ship in the evenings and the 2 days at sea. I discussed it with DH and he feels that it;s worth the extra money to go with Disney....The reason I did Disney for our first family cruise is because my son who has ADHD is very impulsive and I was afraid of (don't laugh) him falling off the ship. When I heard Disney had plexiglass on the rails, that sold me. I was so comfortable on our cruise. When on board, he never even went near the rails because he was so busy swimming or in the kids club.

Thanks for the input...I have a lot of thinking to do.

 

[DWFan4Life]

Nice one. A year preparation makes you feel very very excited to go there isn't it?

 

[MinnieDiva]

A year? More like a year, seven months, and who knows how many days? Tick tick tick.......