August 20, 2005 - L.A. to Port Canaveral - Eastbound Repo Cruise - The SHIP OF FOOLS Part 2

[paulcrsb]

Sarah'sMom - I'm so sorry that you had to cancel. I can totally understand your reasons and health and family come first. Take care.

Paul

 

[Mickey02]

Sarah'sMom-I am so sorry about your husband losing his job.
I hope things will work out for you soon. You will be missed on the cruise.

Barb

 

[Denine]

Sarah'smom. You will be missed. I hope everything gets straightened out.

We are moving tomorrow in the rain from Frances. It is nothing compared to Florida, but still a pain.

 

[mickeyfan1]

MaryJo, I was afraid that you would have to cancel. It really is bad what happened to your husband's company. I keep reading all the stuff about the economy is improving and people are working, but I don't see it.

Are you still going to be able to come up here again?

 

[DudetteTwo]

Had a busy holiday weekend - worked Saturday, off Sunday, worked Monday & Tuesday. I did manage to have a fun Sunday in Cape May.

Had a busy day today too! I had to catch up on all the things I DIDN'T do for four days - food store, laundry, dog care, etc. I also planted some mums (fall is almost here) & took down the red, white & blue decorations (which have been up since Memorial Day). I did leave up my "Pray for Peace" flag & will until the troops come home.

I hope Castaway Cay is still there. I have a Disney Cruise coming up on October 23rd. I don't want any more hurricaines but I am glad Charlie & Frances didn't wait until October 23rd. I was in WDW for Floyd who then proceeded to follow me home.

Hope you all had a much more restful day then I had. Hope you all have a great night. Still thinking of Sophie Toodles JEANNE

 

[ehtpnt]

Mary Jo really sorry that you had to cancel. But I know family and finances should come first.
We are getting a taste of Frances. Lots of rain but nothing like the folks on Florida got.
Jeanne-- How did you get so lucky? A guy followed you home... Unfortunately he was full of air and water. Hope your cruise in October is fine and you have pleasant sailing.
We are keeping Sophie and her family in our thoughts and prayers. As well as all the people in Florida who have gone thru two hurricanes in 3 weeks.

Estelle

 

[invaderzim]

I was doing a quick glance through on these threads before I crash for the night. We were one of the many who had our cruise turned into the "mystery cruise". It was quite interesting and historical since we got to watch the DCL crew and cast members in action. I must say though, we are a VERY BIG advocates now for next year's 14-day cruise not to have so many sea days. Honestly, three sea days in a row and you really start to get a little bonkers -- I DON'T CARE how much you say you enjoy sea days.

Think about it -- bored children, pissy parents and grumpy teenagers hanging around everywhere because they were running out of things to do. It has really made us rethink our cruise next year and hope that Disney comes up with other options for entertainment and ports.

But I will post a trip report later if anyone is interested just noting our good and bad experiences and some interesting observations. It will be interesting to see what happens next August since we will be coming back through some of the same area that we got stranded in this time.

We were VERY happy, however, with the addition of the Costa Maya in place of Key West. While we were very disappointed about missing Key West, when we saw Costa Maya and how beautiful and rustic it was, we were enchanted. The whole port is very new and the roads and tour buses are only three years old.

Also, just as a side note. I saw that many of you mentioned Castaway Cay. While we were docked in Fort Lauderdale on Monday (and, by the way, they made it into a floating hotel for the night for all of us who couldn't get flights out), we got to watch the Wonder pull in. One of the crew was telling us that the Wonder had stopped and picked up the CMs on Castaway Cay on the way out in a race to beat the storm. They were planning on sailing the Wonder out again yesterday strictly as a working cruise -- no passengers. They were bringing her back to CC to assess the damage and begin work. They were pretty sure that they had lost at least one dock and the channel was probably going to be impassable. So here's hoping there wasn't too much damage.

The Magic sailed out yesterday afternoon as a four day cruise and is supposed to begin her schedule again on Saturday. However, Hurricane Ivan is now headed on the same course as Frances and threatens to produce a possible repeat of this past week.

 

[kpgclark]

We were also on a mystery cruise in May '03 where bad weather forced Disney to reroute the trip. We missed a port and ended up at Costa Maya which was the first time Disney had gone there. First I thought Disney did a phenomenal job of organizing all the changes. It was incredible. Secondly I also really liked Costa Maya. It is the kind of port you can go to and not do any excursions because everything is so close-- a nice beach, free use of a large pool, free live local entertainment, shopping. I thought it was a very nice port.

 

[Scratch42]

So sorry to hear you have had to cancel Mary Jo, but can fully understand.

Pixie Dust that all turns around for you and your family!

Scratch

 

[Jazzman]

Mary Jo, so sorry to hear you had to cancel. Unfortunately there is an awful lot of this going on these days (especially with job migration to low cost areas like China). I hope everything works out for you.

-Pete

 

[mississaugamom]

Mary Jo - sorry you had to cancel. Totally understandable, though!

Pixie dust that everything works out well for your family.

Arlene

 

[Bmwdsny]

Mary Jo,
I share the disappointments with you and your family, but family does come first in all aspects. I do hope, however, you will be able to make it to the Dismeet in Allentown next sping. i will still love to meet you.

Melinda

 

[DudetteTwo]

What's with all these hurricanes! Now it's IVAN THE TERRIBLE! Remember this is the same time of year that we'll be Bringing the Magic back to Port Canaveral. It is a little scary

Sent you a PM Mary Jo. Hope you received it.

Hope you all have a great day. Toodles JEANNE

 

[mississaugamom]

Monitoring internet mail files here (kind of like watching grass grow) so I’m California (Cruisin’) daydreaming right now.

Questions – Is it time yet to book Anaheim Howard Johnsons for next August? I’m still on the fence trying to decide between this hotel, the Candy Cane Inn (which was recommended in one of the California guidebooks) or the Desert Inn and Suites, just to have a little more space before settling into our cozy Cat. 10 room on deck 2. Any opinions or insights into any of these properties will be gratefully appreciated.

I’m also considering a point Inverzadim raised in the trip report about the 8/28 cruise with all the extra sea days. They found three sea days in a row was getting to be too much, but I’m wondering whether it felt that way because of all the changes and uncertainty swirling around at the time, or if it was just too long. I’m thinking that on the PLANNED 14-night cruises, there will be other options of things to do on the sea days. I’m thinking there will finally be time to go the Art of Entertaining seminars, allow my 8-yr old DD to enjoy more activities in the Lab, and also to laze around the pools or decks with her. She also loves going to any “family” activities that we can do together.

One nice thing about sea days is Palo being open for brunch and afternoon tea. I got the chance to have brunch with my DH in March, but he is definitely not an “afternoon tea” kind of a guy. Has gone in the past to please me, but really, really, doesn’t enjoy it.

Is anyone else in this position – wanting to try afternoon tea but reluctant to go alone? If so, I’m obviously hoping to hook up with some DIS-friends! Please let me know if you are interested.

I’ll post this now before it gets TOO much longer – hope everyone’s having a great day!

Arlene

 

[ehtpnt]

Has it crossed anyones mind besides mine that we could have a three week cruise next year? I sincerely hope it doesn't happen. This has been an unusually busy year for hurricanes. One right after another. Maybe we'll get lucky and there won't be any at all next year. Personally sea days are not a problem for me. Coast Guard blood. But I do understand others having boredom problems.
Keeping Sophie and everyone in Florida in our prayers.
Off now to feed the starving DH.
Estelle

 

[rsschneck]

We did a Hawaii cruise a couple of years back. Flew over and did the islands then we sailed back for 5 straight days. We loved it! I have to say by the fifth day we were ready to get off the ship. DD was 5 at the time and she loved the kids area which was nothing compared to the Disney kid area. We plan on spending as much time in whichever ports we get to see. I still think a 2 week cruise will be relaxing. One week cruises can be very exhausting, but 2 weeks should be enough time to do it all and time to relax as well!

We are still pressing on!

Let's hope the hurricane season is a lot more tame next summer!

 

[Scratch42]

Originally posted by mississaugamom
Is anyone else in this position – wanting to try afternoon tea but reluctant to go alone? If so, I’m obviously hoping to hook up with some DIS-friends! Please let me know if you are interested.

Arlene

I'll join you! I did not get a chance to do the Tea in January!

Where do I sign up!

Scratch

 

[mickeyfan1]

Originally posted by mississaugamom

One nice thing about sea days is Palo being open for brunch and afternoon tea. I got the chance to have brunch with my DH in March, but he is definitely not an “afternoon tea” kind of a guy. Has gone in the past to please me, but really, really, doesn’t enjoy it.

Is anyone else in this position – wanting to try afternoon tea but reluctant to go alone? If so, I’m obviously hoping to hook up with some DIS-friends! Please let me know if you are interested.


Arlene

Arlene, I am planning on being solo, unless my mother decides on coming, but even then she and I will do tea, I will do it alone if she doesn't come aboard. There are quite a few solo pax booked with us, Bob the Hottie comes to mind straight away (sorryBob, no pun intended!) he is looking for dining partners, too. I am sure that you will have a lot of company for tea. Perhaps I will organize a small tea meet?


I hope that we have smooth sailing. I am not going to use DCL for my air as I want to spend a few days after in the world, and extra dats will foul up those plans. BUT if it happens, it happens, and I am not going to fret.

 

[Andrew DEREK UK]

Other posts on the main discussion board are saying Castaway cay is not too bad and will reopen soon.

Quotes say the adult beach has a 'new' beach, ( more sand) and the port doesn't need dredging like PC.

So hopefully if the weather now improves CC will be OK

 

[Mickey02]

YEAH!!
That is super good news about Castaway Cay!!
Thanks for the update.

Barb