August 24th 2012 Cruise to the Bahamas!!!!

[templed]

I booked my return flights on New Years day. Ended up using Mileage on Jetblue for 5 of the 8 tickets (bought them all as one way tickets).

I figured they haven't changed... so... they're not gunna get any better.

We're planning on getting together to plan out our pre-cruise eats at Disney in the coming weeks...

I've a feeling that now that the holiday's are over, peoples thoughts will once again turn to Cruisin'.....

 

[socababy]

I booked my return flights on New Years day. Ended up using Mileage on Jetblue for 5 of the 8 tickets (bought them all as one way tickets).

I figured they haven't changed... so... they're not gunna get any better.

We're planning on getting together to plan out our pre-cruise eats at Disney in the coming weeks...

I've a feeling that now that the holiday's are over, peoples thoughts will once again turn to Cruisin'.....

My focus has been nothing but cruises over the last couple of months that I need to sit down and think about where we want to eat pre cruise as well and which parks we will visit and on what days. Yes I am that type of planner! LOL At least we have the timeshare booked. I also need to look into flights.

 

[templed]

My focus has been nothing but cruises over the last couple of months that I need to sit down and think about where we want to eat pre cruise as well and which parks we will visit and on what days. Yes I am that type of planner! LOL At least we have the timeshare booked. I also need to look into flights.

You're in good company!!! We're what I would call "OCD vacation planners". We've had this cruise booked for over a year now...

Currently we're staying at the Villas at Wilderness Lodge, but I think I'm going to transfer my reservation to Bay Lake (If I can).

The 180 day window for dining reservations is approaching... so we want to have a plan of attack for that... it's harder to plan when you have a large group of people.... but we've done it before (and we'll do it again!!! Lol)

Not everyone is going down as early as we are, so our group isn't as big for pre-cruise reservations (11 people).

Coming home... now that's going to be a massive undertaking (have to see if I can coordinate a bus to the airport).

 

[dizneeat]

HAPPY NEW YEAR everyone!

Hopefully, the new year will bring more "chatter" to this thread. I'm looking forward to booking our flights later this month (Southwest currently says they will open up booking on Jan 22).

I really hope this thread gets more lively, there is nothing better building up the anticipation than talking and dreaming about the DREAM!

I booked my return flights on New Years day. Ended up using Mileage on Jetblue for 5 of the 8 tickets (bought them all as one way tickets).

I figured they haven't changed... so... they're not gunna get any better.

We're planning on getting together to plan out our pre-cruise eats at Disney in the coming weeks...

I've a feeling that now that the holiday's are over, peoples thoughts will once again turn to Cruisin'.....

It feels so good to have your flights booked - we booked ours in November.

Like you I need to get on with planning my pre and post cruise eats as that 180 day window is coming up quickly!

My focus has been nothing but cruises over the last couple of months that I need to sit down and think about where we want to eat pre cruise as well and which parks we will visit and on what days. Yes I am that type of planner! LOL At least we have the timeshare booked. I also need to look into flights.

Another planner here! So far I only have two more hotels to book (waiting on a deal coming out - we are going to the Keys for a week and then a week WDW before the cruise) and am hoping that Disney is releasing their park schedule SOON!!! I love to plan my days around the EMHs! I have last years hours saved, so I can go with them, but you never know with Disney, they might change things around.

You're in good company!!! We're what I would call "OCD vacation planners". We've had this cruise booked for over a year now...

Currently we're staying at the Villas at Wilderness Lodge, but I think I'm going to transfer my reservation to Bay Lake (If I can).

The 180 day window for dining reservations is approaching... so we want to have a plan of attack for that... it's harder to plan when you have a large group of people.... but we've done it before (and we'll do it again!!! Lol)

Not everyone is going down as early as we are, so our group isn't as big for pre-cruise reservations (11 people).

Coming home... now that's going to be a massive undertaking (have to see if I can coordinate a bus to the airport).

11 people in your group - wow, now that is something to coordinate! and then even more people coming back? Good luck getting whatever you have your heart set on!

FE participants list!

stewartm
socababy
michelle9343
dizneeat​

 

[templed]

I really hope this thread gets more lively, there is nothing better building up the anticipation than talking and dreaming about the DREAM!



It feels so good to have your flights booked - we booked ours in November.

Like you I need to get on with planning my pre and post cruise eats as that 180 day window is coming up quickly!



Another planner here! So far I only have two more hotels to book (waiting on a deal coming out - we are going to the Keys for a week and then a week WDW before the cruise) and am hoping that Disney is releasing their park schedule SOON!!! I love to plan my days around the EMHs! I have last years hours saved, so I can go with them, but you never know with Disney, they might change things around.



11 people in your group - wow, now that is something to coordinate! and then even more people coming back? Good luck getting whatever you have your heart set on!

FE participants list!

stewartm
socababy
michelle9343
dizneeat​

11 people just for the Disney Parks portion of the trip.... That's actually pretty normal / easy to deal with for us... it's usually the same core group of people that come with us, so we're all pretty easy to accommodate.


All in All.... we have like 14 cabins booked through various means... Most are through my group... but a few folks are booked through DVC (I didn't own DVC at the time I booked it).

A portion of the group are family (wife's family)... so I have to be extra careful that they are handled with kid gloves (interesting personalities). I've gone out of my way to make sure that they are informed and included in whatever way I can... (I should be getting a Travel Agent's commission for some of the junk I've done for them...) I'm trying mightily to make sure that they don't fall into some "first time cruiser" traps and end up having a bad time... cause then I know... it would be my fault because I organized it. lol

 

[michelle9343]

I was in major cruise dreaming mode and just wanted to drop by and say hello.
I would like to start getting to know everyone better so I thought I would tell you all a little about us. We live in Clermont Florida and are only 35 mins from Walt Disney World. I am actually a seasonal cast member and work at the World Of Disney DTD. My husband is a custom cabinet maker and we own our own business.
My son Vito will be 17 at the time of the cruise and is a HUGE video "gamer".He has been home school since 6 grade and will be finishing high school this year.
My daughter Angelina will be 14 at the time of the cruise. She is our "special"angel and has a very rare genetic disorder. She is the main reason we left New York nine years ago to live by Mickey!!! She is without a doubt Mickey's biggest fan. She is non-verbal and has a very difficult life but when she goes to WDW none of that matters. She looks at Mickey like most teenage girls look at Justin Beiber. When she see him she SCREAMS and pulls her hair and sometime I am worried she might faint!!!
We have been on the Magic and the Wonder but our last cruise was 5+ years ago.
My sister AKA Aunt Tracy will be cruises with us and this is her first EVER cruise.
I am the planner of the family and really think planning the cruise is a big part of the trip. I will plan and plan and make all kinds of list of things to do but when it comes down to it once we are on the ship I do not even care if we don't get to do anything I planned, I am just so happy to have the time to make magical memories!!!

 

[socababy]

We had 11 people in our party when we went to WDW last March. The part of the planning that isn't so fun is since we are staying offsite, I have to get up super early here on the west coast for 6 days in a row to book our ADRs. Since we are offsite, I cannot book the whole weeks worth at one time. I have to get up each day as it becomes 6 months out. Plus, I couldn't do it online because of the size of our party. This August there will probably be the same number of people. We plan on arriving on the 18th, anyone have the 180 day out date for that date?

 

[mcd2745]

We had 11 people in our party when we went to WDW last March. The part of the planning that isn't so fun is since we are staying offsite, I have to get up super early here on the west coast for 6 days in a row to book our ADRs. Since we are offsite, I cannot book the whole weeks worth at one time. I have to get up each day as it becomes 6 months out. Plus, I couldn't do it online because of the size of our party. This August there will probably be the same number of people. We plan on arriving on the 18th, anyone have the 180 day out date for that date?

http://www.wdwinfo.com/wdwinfo/dining/pscalc/dispscalc.html

 

[socababy]

http://www.wdwinfo.com/wdwinfo/dining/pscalc/dispscalc.html

Thanks! That's just the link I was looking for! I should probably bookmark it this time!

 

[templed]

I was in major cruise dreaming mode and just wanted to drop by and say hello.
I would like to start getting to know everyone better so I thought I would tell you all a little about us. We live in Clermont Florida and are only 35 mins from Walt Disney World. I am actually a seasonal cast member and work at the World Of Disney DTD. My husband is a custom cabinet maker and we own our own business.
My son Vito will be 17 at the time of the cruise and is a HUGE video "gamer".He has been home school since 6 grade and will be finishing high school this year.
My daughter Angelina will be 14 at the time of the cruise. She is our "special"angel and has a very rare genetic disorder. She is the main reason we left New York nine years ago to live by Mickey!!! She is without a doubt Mickey's biggest fan. She is non-verbal and has a very difficult life but when she goes to WDW none of that matters. She looks at Mickey like most teenage girls look at Justin Beiber. When she see him she SCREAMS and pulls her hair and sometime I am worried she might faint!!!
We have been on the Magic and the Wonder but our last cruise was 5+ years ago.
My sister AKA Aunt Tracy will be cruises with us and this is her first EVER cruise.
I am the planner of the family and really think planning the cruise is a big part of the trip. I will plan and plan and make all kinds of list of things to do but when it comes down to it once we are on the ship I do not even care if we don't get to do anything I planned, I am just so happy to have the time to make magical memories!!!

Good idea! I'm sure if you scan around my conversations you could figure out who I am ... kids, etc. But I'll lay it out in summary fashion here.

Wife and I are early 40's (in fact... I'm just 40 in November). We're from NYC (Staten Island). I grew up mostly in CT and NJ... Wife grew up in Brooklyn. We both work in the Legal industry in Manhattan.... I'm in Midtown, she's Downtown. I'm in Finance... but I am more or less an IT geek (I manage our firm's Financial systems). Wife is a Legal Secretary. We actually met at the firm she works at now.

Together we've been on 5 cruises (Royal Caribbean, Norwegian, Celebrity and Carnival).

2 kids. DD is 14 (will be 15 at the time of the cruise) and a Freshman in HS. She's a teenager... what can I say??? She's a good kid though, great grades... well behaved... This will be her 3rd cruise...

DS is 5 (will be 6 for the cruise)... He's currently in Kindergarten. We adopted him from Novosibirsk, Russia about 3 years ago. Feb 13th is the 3 year anniversary of the Russian courts granting us custody. It was a trip / experience of a lifetime...... no joke. How many people can actually say that they spent a month in Siberia in the dead of winter.... I can!!!! lol We're still dealing with some developmental delays, mostly speech related... but he's incredibly intelligent and charismatic. You could not find a more empathetic child. He almost seems drawn to people that could need a little cheering up....

This will be his 2nd cruise.

 

[socababy]

Our crew inclues the following...

My name is Christina, 34 years old and I have 3 kids, ds9 (at cruise time,) ds7(at cruise time) and dd4. Our world was turned upside down when my Dh passed away suddenly at the way too young age of 32 just over 3 years ago. Dh and I went on our first Disney cruise on the Wonder over 10 years ago and we couldn't wait until we had kids and got to take them on one. Sadly, he never got to experience that with his kids (we did sail on HAL when the boys were young) but I am trying my best to keep our dreams that we made for our kids alive. The kids and I did the MR cruise in Feb 2011, Nov 2011 and will again Apr 2012. So this will be their 4th DCL cruise.

My wonderful ILs will also be joining us on this cruise. They sailed with us last Feb and will again in April. They are a huge help with the kids.

 

[templed]

I'm so sorry to hear of your loss. But I'm happy to hear that you are keeping his memory alive.


This is us...

 

[mcd2745]

Sorry for your loss socababy. That is just terrible.


As for us...it is myself, DW (both of us will be hitting the big 4-OH! between now and the cruise), DS 10, and DD 7 (their ages at the time of the cruise). We have been Queens residents all our lives. It will be the kids first Disney Cruise and second officailly for DW & I, with the first one being just a 3-nighter on the Wonder as part of the old land/sea packages back in November 200 - our first anniversary. But that was so long ago and only 3 nights, I feel like it's our first as well. The kids' only other cruise was back in Aug 2009 when we did the Nickelodeon Family Cruise on Royal Caribbean's Freedom of the Seas, which was a lot of fun. We have done WDW the last two years (basically the same week as our cruise - late August right before they go back to school), but the kids (and DW) wanted to do another cruise, so here we are.

 

[templed]

I fear for the non-ny'ers on this cruise.... lol


(I'm kidding obviously... but... there's a LOT of us).

 

[mcd2745]

I fear for the non-ny'ers on this cruise.... lol


(I'm kidding obviously... but... there's a LOT of us).

Yes there is.


It was the same thing at WDW the last two years. With so many other areas of the country already having gone back to school already, everyone at WDW was pretty much from NY & NJ plus a lot of Brits.

 

[templed]

Been home recovering since Friday. Had a hernia in my stomach repaired... knocked me for loop.

Feeling a little better now...

I need ... a Cruise.

 

[mcd2745]

Been home recovering since Friday. Had a hernia in my stomach repaired... knocked me for loop.

Feeling a little better now...

I need ... a Cruise.

Ouch.

Well...better now in the middle of January instead of the middle of August .


We'll be at the 200-day mark soon - but who's counting?

 

[templed]

2 days till I can change my reservation with dvc.

 

[dizneeat]

2 days till I can change my reservation with dvc.

I'll keep my fingers crossed for you, so you'll get what you want. We still have until February 2nd until we can make our reservation, but I have booked all the hotels for our first week touring the Florida Keys and the 8 night WDW part before the cruise.

FE participants list!

stewartm
socababy
michelle9343
dizneeat​

 

[templed]

No problems!... switched over to Bay Lake Towers. Dedicated 2 bedroom Lakeview Villa!

whoop!