August 22nd 2009 Western Carribbean Anyone?

[Ski-and-Sea]

Two weeks to go! I sure hope these two weeks pass quickly!

A few of us are already in Florida, I'll be on my way in six days. So now I am curious - who is going to be the last person to leave home? Is anybody here planning to fly out the day of the cruise?

I think I read a post that at least one family is flying down the day of the cruise, but I'm not sure which family.

We have a 4pm flight on Aug 21.

Okay......t-shirts are finished, just tweaking the fonts on the door signs and I'll start on the FE gifts next week.

Yeah, these next two weeks are going to fly by.

 

[downeysmith]

I have just started my research and realize I have so much to read and figure out. It is my DH birthday and my daughters first disney experience and first cruise. Wondering a couple of things, I don't know when are the special diners (semi formal) and pirate nights. To help plan excursions and spa I kinda want to know what is happening.

On our itinary is says we are ashore at 9:30am, does that give me enough time to get to a 10.00 dolphin swim at Chankaannob?

What is FE?

We have early main dinning, my daughter is 8, she is a bit past the princess dresses but likes to dress up, will she fit in?

What are the excercise classes like, do you have to pay for them?
sorry if I am asking stupid questions.
Very excited and overwhelmed.

 

[Aurora's Mommy]

I think I read a post that at least one family is flying down the day of the cruise, but I'm not sure which family.

Was that Shelly?

I have just started my research and realize I have so much to read and figure out. It is my DH birthday and my daughters first disney experience and first cruise. Wondering a couple of things, I don't know when are the special diners (semi formal) and pirate nights. To help plan excursions and spa I kinda want to know what is happening.

On our itinary is says we are ashore at 9:30am, does that give me enough time to get to a 10.00 dolphin swim at Chankaannob?

What is FE?

We have early main dinning, my daughter is 8, she is a bit past the princess dresses but likes to dress up, will she fit in?

What are the excercise classes like, do you have to pay for them?
sorry if I am asking stupid questions.
Very excited and overwhelmed.

aboard! And no question is stupid. Ask away!

Some quick answers. Formal night is Monday, semi-formal night is Thursday (those are the two days at sea). Pirate night is usually Wednesday (Cozumel day), but has been on Tuesday recently (but that sounds like a really special case). Your daughter will definitely fit in dressing up.

Haven't a clue about the Dolphin Excursion timing or exercise class. And someone else can probably explain the FE better.

 

[Aurora's Mommy]

The kids and I went to Kohls today, and I think we now have everything we need (except for a white sweater for Paige, but it is totally the wrong season to find one, and she's never cold in any case). I can now start laying out the clothes to get ready to pack .

Only 14 days! Merely 2 weeks!

 

[BlueMarlin]

I have just started my research and realize I have so much to read and figure out. It is my DH birthday and my daughters first disney experience and first cruise. Wondering a couple of things, I don't know when are the special diners (semi formal) and pirate nights. To help plan excursions and spa I kinda want to know what is happening.

On our itinary is says we are ashore at 9:30am, does that give me enough time to get to a 10.00 dolphin swim at Chankaannob?

What is FE?

We have early main dinning, my daughter is 8, she is a bit past the princess dresses but likes to dress up, will she fit in?

What are the excercise classes like, do you have to pay for them?
sorry if I am asking stupid questions.
Very excited and overwhelmed.

WELCOME ON BOARD!!

First we are here to help and as it was said, no question is stupid, you are just asking the ones we all asked in the past 1600 posts and now we can catch you up quicker since we know the answers, so ask away!!

Second, the thing about a Disney Cruise is that it is a classically elegant ship that is very relaxing to be on, and it happens to offer all the Disney "you" want to experience. So if you want to dress like a princess, no one will look funny at you, and if you do not, then it is just the same too. The ship and crew are all actors, who want to be there, and who want to do the other thing they do after customer service. The same guy who is leading the newlywed game at night could be Goofy during the day. Disney puts out a fantastic product here.

Third, take advantage of the kids club and adult programs. Disney is very good at making the kids want to do their thing and enabling the parents to have a good time and not worry about the kids.

An FE is a Fish Extender. You can hang a device from your door number that acts as a decoration and mail box, etc. If you search for Fish Extender, there is more than you care to read on the subject. It is a fun way to uniquely identify your place on the ship. Many people do Door Magnets as well since they are steel doors.

More to come...

 

[Ski-and-Sea]

I have just started my research and realize I have so much to read and figure out. It is my DH birthday and my daughters first disney experience and first cruise. Wondering a couple of things, I don't know when are the special diners (semi formal) and pirate nights. To help plan excursions and spa I kinda want to know what is happening.

On our itinary is says we are ashore at 9:30am, does that give me enough time to get to a 10.00 dolphin swim at Chankaannob?

What is FE?

We have early main dinning, my daughter is 8, she is a bit past the princess dresses but likes to dress up, will she fit in?

What are the excercise classes like, do you have to pay for them?
sorry if I am asking stupid questions.
Very excited and overwhelmed.

Welcome Please don't feel overwhelmed. A cruise is one of the easiest vacations there is. And the DIS is a great resource - didn't find out about the DIS until after my 3rd cruise.

On to your questions....are you doing the Dolphin swim on your own or through DCL? If you are doing it on your own you should be able to make it by 10am. I think its about a 15-20 min taxi cab ride. Make sure you are ready to get off the ship as soon as it docks. There are a line of taxi cabs literally at the end of the dock.

We have a private snorkeling excursion that day so we will be getting off the ship as soon as it docks.

In terms of the gym onboard - everything is free except to use a personal trainer. I cannot remember if there are any group classes - there are plenty of treadmills, etc to get a cardio workout plus the weight machines.

Your daughter and the entire family can dress up as much as they want. We will be all decked out for both formal and semi-formal night. We use that as our Christmas card photo.

Fish extenders.....next to every stateroom door on the wall at eye level is a metal fish with a bracket that is used to hold papers/envelopes that are delivered to your room. DISers that wanted to participate in gift exchanges needed a place to put people's gifts and came up with idea of hanging a bag on the fish so that fellow DISers can leave the gifts. Hence the hanging bag became known as a fish-extender.

Tell your dinner servers that its DH's birthday and which day you would like to celebrate it. The servers will bring out a small birthday cake and sing happy birthday. All for free. We've done it several times.

One thing that will help tremendously is to print out the latest 7-day navigators and see what activities are planned for each day. That way you know in advance the schedule of activities and don't feel so overwhelmed.

Go ahead and ask as many questions as you like. We were all first-time DCL cruisers ourselves.

 

[Ski-and-Sea]

Lucky 13 days to go !!!!

Any parents out there who are mulling over whether or not to send their kids away to camp (even for a week) should remember this:

multiple days of a clean house = priceless

My kids were away all last week with their camp and upon their arrival back home it took less than 5 minutes for my house to become a complete mess. Amazing.

 

[jhryb]

Lucky 13 days to go !!!!

Any parents out there who are mulling over whether or not to send their kids away to camp (even for a week) should remember this:

multiple days of a clean house = priceless

My kids were away all last week with their camp and upon their arrival back home it took less than 5 minutes for my house to become a complete mess. Amazing.

My kids were away for the first two weeks of their summer vacation and I had the cleanest house ever. Now I spend my time picking up after them in an effort to recapture the beauty of those two weeks. 47 more weeks until I get to re-experience multiple days of a clean house. Trust me, one week is not enough. Try for two next year.

 

[Ski-and-Sea]

My kids were away for the first two weeks of their summer vacation and I had the cleanest house ever. Now I spend my time picking up after them in an effort to recapture the beauty of those two weeks. 47 more weeks until I get to re-experience multiple days of a clean house. Trust me, one week is not enough. Try for two next year.

Amen to that!!!!

 

[BlueMarlin]

Amen to that!!!!

Now we just have to figure out how to get them out of the house at the same time. Both our kids went to three weeks of Scout and other summer camps. Do you think ONE WEEK overlapped, um... think not. This week though, both kids are gone since one is visiting friends out of town and the house is adults only, very nice.

 

[BlueMarlin]

HOTEL DISCOUNTS!!!

I just checked all of our hotels since they are continuing to discount based on the economy. I was able to knock 25% off our reservations for travel days and at the Radisson at the Port I was able to chop 50% based on last minute updates. It is worth it to take one last look depending on where you are staying. A couple months ago, the RATP did not have a room open for less than $200 a night, and now I booked at $101.

 

[MrR]

Well, this is our first goodbye, guys - this time tomorrow we'll be at the airport, and officially on our way, so we'll see you all on the ship!

Fingers crossed I can drag the entire brood to the meet in the Promenade Lounge...

Safe journey, everyone.

 

[Aurora's Mommy]

Well, this is our first goodbye, guys - this time tomorrow we'll be at the airport, and officially on our way, so we'll see you all on the ship!

Fingers crossed I can drag the entire brood to the meet in the Promenade Lounge...

Safe journey, everyone.

Safe travels!

 

[aidtrismommy]

Is everyone getting excited???? I have the suitcases out and some stuff packed already. We will be leaving the 21st and staying at the Hilton (anyone else staying there??) We probably won't be able to meet the first day in the promenade, but am so excited about the Walt Disney suite thing on our first sea day. (I am dreading juggling lunch, naps, drill, begging to switch to Main dining, etc on the first day) I just want it all, ya know I have my magnets all packed and my door can be identified by the many lime green mickey heads, in addition to a zillion others. Are there any others on here with young kids (mine are 1 and 3)?

 

[trimix]

Is everyone getting excited???? I have the suitcases out and some stuff packed already.

Excited? I was about to say you have no idea, but you probably feel exactly the same way I do.
Saturday I chauffeured DW and DD to a mall to buy their formal dresses; now I can't wait to see DW in her dress.
I took today off, and right after I send this message I will get the luggage from the garage.

Four days from right now I will be enroute to the airport and even more excited than I am now.

And a small point of correction - the reception is currently scheduled for the second sea day.

 

[IGetAKickOutOfFlik]

Wow!!! We depart in 10 days (spending one day at DW), and I am starting to feel a little bit of pressure right now - first time cruisers and packing will be an adventure to say the least.

Would anyone be so kind as to sum up the 113 pages of this thread in 1 or 2 paragraphs? But seriously, what do I need to know from this thread? We elected not to participate in the FE this time around - great concept, but more than I could handle. But I see just on this page alone references to a meet in the Promenade lounge, something about T-shirts, the "Walt Disney suite thing on our first sea day" (huh? ). Any help straightening this out would be much appreciated - I am feeling a little bit overwhelmed.

One oddball question - I printed out a cruise packing list from the DIS cruise board - first item is the over-the-door shoe hanger, which I have read about and understand. Second line says "Don't forget the duct tape!" Duct tape??!?? In a million years I would not have thought to pack duct tape. Why would I want to not forget the duct tape?

TIA.

 

[downeysmith]

Getting a handle on things, thanks for all the info. Not sure where I find the
7-day navigators to see what activities are planned for each day.
thanks again.

 

[Aurora's Mommy]

Getting a handle on things, thanks for all the info. Not sure where I find the
7-day navigators to see what activities are planned for each day.
thanks again.

Some really, really nice lady posted all the Western navigators from her recent cruise here:

http://http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2234786

Update: I don't know if it is just my laptop acting up today or my inability to include a link correctly, but when I click on the above link, I get an error message. If the link is not working for you, look under the trip reports for momclouds thread. I bumped it up, so you should find it in the first few threads. Also, if someone out there is more computer savvy than I (and that ain't hard), could you try to include the link correctly?

 

[Aurora's Mommy]

And a small point of correction - the reception is currently scheduled for the second sea day.

Did I miss something .

 

[Sonnyeclipse]

I know I am kind of late in the game but I'll be on this sailing too and look forward to meeting everyone. I'll be the Dad with the seven year old twin boys.