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

[Grumbo]

Well slept in til 6:00 am this morning
Never get used to these days off and not having to get up

Very cold but hasn't snowed here anymore so the roads should be good for our drive to Niagara today.

Want to wish you all a Very Merry Christmas and hopefully you will all have a wonderful day with your family and friends. Meagan left her letter for Santa with a Q & A for him, and a HUGE glass of milk and Christmas cake and an apple for the reindeer. We didn't think she believed this year but not quite sure if this was a "Just in case" thing but I got up at 1:00 am to answer the questions and eat the cake. Couldn't face the milk and it went down the drain It is 6:45 am now so hopefully she'll sleep a bit longer as it will be a long day today

Take care all, and enjoy yourselves

Cheers,
Grumbo (Grahame), Doris and Meagan

 

[Luv2Dream]

Merry Christmas everyone !!! Santa has arrived and the presents have been opened. Delight on the face of our daughter is the best gift I could receive. How blessed we are. The sounds of laughter and glee, the smiles and aroma of warm food. How very blessed we are. Merry Christmas everyone. May 2005 be the best year of all.

 

[Luv2Dream]

Thank you, Mark, for those very nice stories.

 

[DudetteTwo]

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL! Hope Santa was good to everyone.

EYE R.N.: Congratulations & welcome to to this crazy board. I am also an R.N. I work post partum/nursery. I have been at the same hospital for 21 years!

My turkey is in the oven & everything else is just waiting it's turn to go in the oven or get cooked. Try not to eat too much. I asked for SNOW for Christmas but every place but New Jersey got snow. We did get the cold! Have a great Christmas & try not to eat too much. Toodles JEANNE

 

[Mom2Belle&PeterPan]

MERRY CHRISTMAS Ship of Fools CRUISEMATES!!!Our children just finished opening their gifts, then we are off to Grandpa's and Grandma's for about an hour & a half drive. The joy of their faces is truly the best gift of all, how did we get so lucky?! Dd is also on the cusp of believing in Santa, so we did all the bells and whistles too (happy mom & dad). That's cute that your dd wrote Q & A's Grumbo! Anyway, dd was up early looking at all her stocking gifts in the light of the hall, lol! She kept saying, "Look what Santa brought me mom!" while my eyes were almost closed. Needless to say, the gifts were opened later, but still bright and early.

Wishing you and yours a very magical and blessed day today! We certainly are lucky folk! Safe travels too!

Barbara

 

[Bmwdsny]

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO OUR FOOL'S FRIENDS

We had a nice Christmas eve, went to church and stayed up til midnight with family and stuffed ourselves..
Rest of family will be here shortly at my parents house. Bob is waiting to watch the Disney Parade coming on at 1 PM (EST) and then have dinner and open gifts.
I am going on a MAJOR Diet after New Years!!! There is just too much food here!!! Like the Cruise!! LOL!!

Have a Blessed Day!!

Bob, Melinda, Brianne and Alex

 

[mark & sandra]

Well Merry Christmas Cruisemates!! I hope everyone is having a great time today. Did Santa bring your kids what they hoped for?? Sandy was mad at me for buying my kids a couple of gifts that we(she) decided they were 'not' getting this year!! I got Sandy the D70 (thanks for the info Jason, and the idea Grumbo) while she was busy setting up the camera I was able to sneak out and get some more work done. Christmas rush is over, now to complete ALL the work I put aside to finish the Christmas rush work...Mark

 

[Jazzman]

Merry Christmas Shipmates! (and Shipmaids, Shipmate-ettes, Shipmatrons, Shipmistresses?)

...And cleared me and DD13 off the wait list, mind if we join you?

Absolutely - once you are finished reading all 7,168 posts and pass Mark's simple test you will be officially added to our list....

... aw hell, it's Christmas - we'll just go ahead and add you now.

Welcome aboard, and beware of the crazies calling themselves 'The Sisterhood'.

-Jazz

 

[mark & sandra]

Jazz, can't we just call them wenches. http://www.wench.org/

Women Entitled to Nothing but Complete Happiness.


What We are Are:

1.We are a group of strong, independent women (and a few men).
2.We are entitled to nothing but complete happiness.
3.We are mothers, daughters, married, single, gay, straight, students, teachers, workers, entrepreneurs and homemakers.
4.We are proud of our bodies, our minds and our hearts.
5.We carry ourselves with dignity and pride and take responsibility for our own actions.
6.We learn from our pasts and shape our futures.
7.We are fighters and lovers, nurturers and hunters.
8.We are ready.

What We Are NOT:
1.We are not perfect, but we learn and teach from our mistakes, and the mistakes of others.
2.We are not PC. We are not threatened. We are unafraid to stand firm in our judgements.
3.We are not threatened by those who intend to intimidate us, and we will *not* be subdued.
4.We are not a political organization although we do have some very strong, group opinions on domestic abuse and the equality of women.
5.We are not a group of Femi-Nazis. We are not against men in any way; in fact, there are male members in the wench guild.
6.We are not content to sit idly by and watch as ourselves and our sisters are being stifled, ignored, abused, abandoned, raped, murdered, stereotyped or mistreated in any other way, whether physically, mentally, emotionally or socially.
7.We are not afraid.

 

[mark & sandra]

We've had some new additions to our group. Are any of you interested?


Tentative Dis Meet- Sunday
8/21/05
10:00-11:00 am
Rockin' Bar D or Studio C (to be determined)

Bartender service available if desired
Max. capacity is either 275 or 292 depending on location

Unofficial head count is needed to secure room: 152 so far


Mark & Sandra- (3)
Mississaugamom- (5)
piglet33- (3)
DisneyElf- (2)
izzinmac- (5)
bmwdsny- (4) or (6)
invaderzim- (3)
Grumbo- (6) or (7)
mickeyfan1- (1)
mamawanavacation- (2)
carolsherman- (3)
EileenAmI- (2)
Bob320- (1)
winotracy- (2)
DisCrazzy- (2)
Denise W- (2) or (3)
tigger24- (10)
DeverVal- (3)
RobinMarie- (2)
ehtpnt- (4)
wide awake- (3)
winnyis- (4)
Mom2Belle&PeterPan- (4)
rsschneck- (2)
sandygirl- (3)
Auntybrat- (2)
Buckaroo's Dad- (3)
DonnaDavid- (2)
ThreeCircles- (2)
outahere- (3)
Denine- (3)
Scratch- (2)
Ivanova- (19)
NYGiantsRule-(4)
Gupsmom- (2)
Luv2Dream- (2) or (3)
kcashner- (2)
paulcrsb- (2)
KEH- (3)
Pamkass- (2)
"Ginger"- (2)
JiminyC fan- (2)
NYdiscruisers- (4)
Andrew DEREK UK- (1)
Dudette 2 & 3- (2)
Kpgclark- (2)

Possible Bus To MCO after cruise-Update

Are there any more people interested yet?? Our total so far is 42, and there is room for 57.

If we use Mears Transportation and manage to fill the bus (capacity 57) the final cost will be $7.04 per person. If bus leaves the Port by 10:00am or so, it should put us at Orlando Airport by 11:00am.


Possible Bus To MCO after cruise-Update--so far 54

Mark & Sandra-(6)
DisneyElf-(2)
Winotracy-(2)
Winnyis-(4)
DeniseW-(4)
RobinMarie-(2)
wide awake-(3)
DisCrazzy-(4)
rsscheck-(5)
Denine-(3)
mickeyfan1- (1)
Denise W- (4)
sandygirl- (3)
"Ginger"- (3)
NYdiscruisers- (4)
Kpgclark- (4)

PM me if interested in either one...Mark

 

[mark & sandra]

Jazz, can we have a new count?? Some new additions not yet on Grumbo's main page:
eye R.N. - 2
DCL~Dreamer + others - 6

 

[Jazzman]

Gosh - guess I missed that one. I have eye R.N. in my new update, but not DCL~Dreamer (of course, my Canadian proof-reader should have picked this up, but you know how undependable foreign labor is). I see a post from an October posting 10 people for DCL~Dreamer, is the number 10 or 6 for that group? If anybody has info forward it to me.

I currently show 470 total without that group, so I guess the new number should be either 476 or 480. Man, we are getting back up close to 500 again.

-Jazz

 

[mark & sandra]

They are part of Tigger24's group (the parents + other family members I think). Tigger24 is in a group of 10, since they are a group of 3, I guess the 7 remaining is the other part of their group.

Grumbo- DCL~Dreamer (party of 7) should be on your first page list too.
http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=6718485&postcount=4786

 

[Mom2Belle&PeterPan]

Thanks Mark for the beautiful Christmas stories!!! Sounds like everyone is having/had a special day. I'll get to that "wenches" suggestion later...not sure if that is a good or bad suggestion... My dh has always wanted me to dress up as a wench for Halloween! Ha! I sure do like the
"Women Entitled to Nothing but Complete Happiness" list though!

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE, and before you know it, 2005 and our cruise will be here!!!

Barbara

 

[kmiles]

Damn! Who got a D70?!?!?!?!?

 

[mississaugamom]

Happy Boxing Day, Everyone!!!

I hope you all had a blessed and magical Christmas Day.

Ours was simply awesome! After rushing to the mall on Christmas Eve morning to buy a "Care Bears" checker set (?? - only gift my 5 yr old niece asked Santa for this year and her parents left it too late to find it! I scored it at my last planned stop and returned home happy.) By then, Lara was up, so she and I headed to another mall with the most wonderful Santa. He IS Santa - no fake beard or padding required! We've gone to him for years now, but left our visit and photo to the last minute this year. The wait was 1-1/2 hours, but well worth it. We met a lovely mom with twin 8 yr olds right in front of us in line. The girls all hit it off, and the mom and I took turns running to area stores to finish all our last-minute errands while we waited. Like Barbara and Grumbo, I'm not sure how much longer the Santa magic will last for her, so I wanted to savour it all this year.

It was so much fun! Lara and I were wearing matching red Christmas sweaters that the Disney store had a few years ago. This was the final year for Lara's to fit, so we wore them a lot. Santa spotted this, and insisted that I come and join Lara for a photo! I even had to sit on his knee (Gosh, I was feeling sorry for him! but he insisted he was perfectly comfortable and wanted a wonderful photo for us. He insisted that I bring it back to him when it was printed to make sure he was happy with it, or we'd have to take it again! )

We went to Church, then out to our favourite Japanese restaurant for dinner. (The roads weren't good enough for my 88 yr old father-in-law to drive to our house for an at-home sushi dinner).

Lara was up before 7 am Christmas morning. Daddy was just too tired to get up and film that early, so I convinced Lara we'd get a jacuzzi bath and have some spa time to look our best for Christmas. At 8, we headed down to open her stocking and gifts from Santa. Many squeals of delight!!! (Santa loves to shop at the Disney Store!) We packed up the rest of the gifts and headed over to my sister-in-law's for lunch, 2 hours of present opening (is there anything greater than watching children's joy on Christmas???) then had a wonderful Christmas dinner. Didn't get home until midnight!

The mall was open at 7am this morning for Boxing Day specials. Disney Store was 40% off everything in the store this morning . After doing some serious damage to my credit card there, I did the same at Hallmark and The Gap. I rewarded myself with a peppermint mocha latte at Starbucks and returned home very happy with my new treasures.

We're planning a quiet day - trying out Lara's new Gamecube and Disney Scene-It games and just enjoying some time for the three of us.

Have a great day, everyone!!!!!

Arlene

 

[mississaugamom]

Jazz, can't we just call them wenches. http://www.wench.org/

Women Entitled to Nothing but Complete Happiness.

With that wonderful description, Mark, I'd be honoured to be called a WENCH. Thanks for posting this.

Arlene

 

[Mom2Belle&PeterPan]

Arlene, I enjoyed reading about your Christmas, it made me smile and smile!!! Hugs to you! Have a wonderful day together!

Dh and I were looking at maps to see where the tsunami hit. We cannot believe the enourmous tragedy of this...our server Sam in June has his family in Thailand and we pray they are safe. We are praying with our hearts for all those effected.

While doing the above, we came upon an interactive map with information on our port stops. Here it is for your perusing. Geesh, I hate to combine the happy with the truly sad...

Barbara
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Interactive map:

http://www.lonelyplanet.com/destinations/loc-ame.htm

Cabo

http://www.lonelyplanet.com/mapshells/north_america/cabo_san_lucas/cabo_san_lucas.htm

http://www.lonelyplanet.com/destinations/north_america/cabo_san_lucas/index.htm

Acapulco

http://www.lonelyplanet.com/destinations/north_america/acapulco/index.htm

Panama Canal

http://www.lonelyplanet.com/mapshells/central_america/panama/panama.htm

http://www.lonelyplanet.com/destinations/central_america/panama/attractions.htm#canal

Curacao

http://www.lonelyplanet.com/mapshells/caribbean/curacao/curacao.htm

http://www.lonelyplanet.com/destinations/caribbean/curacao/

 

[kmiles]

Very quiet in here tonight. Everyone must be recovering from all the cranberry sauce and egg nog.

 

[mark & sandra]

Or busy taking photos for the First Annual Winter Season Photo Contest!...Mark