August 7, 2004 Magic...who's going?

[wendym]

I am prettty sure we are the first to officially go to San Juan. I would vote for Deck 10 for the Sailaway also.
Wendy

 

[mom2missmous]

Sooo many things to think abou! Just trying to catch up.. I understand people are planning a get together during sailaway? Sounds like fun can anyone come? If so, I'll have to run that by the rest of our little crew. I hope they can let us know ahead of time what the special menus are as we can't do the reas pkg (dh and myself not doing spa treatments this time. only dd is ) so we will be doing the ressie race at boarding ( I hope they leave SOME spots open for us poor non- reas folk!) Also, We plan on doing the walking tour of old San Juan: is anyone else booking this?

 

[wendym]

Everyone is welcome! It will be so nice to put faces to you all. We aren't doing REAS either - don't fancy romance with my mother! We are planning doing the easy rainforest tour but hope to get time to wander round old San Juan later.
Wendy

 

[jeanneg]

Yes, yes, the sailaway party is for everyone. Please come one and all so we can put faces to names, as Wendy said. Nobody is obligated to "hang" with anyone, but it's nice to walk into a lounge or theatre or even an excursion and recognize a familiar face. Last year we were about 20 families that posted and about half of us showed up for the sailaway get-together. Some we never saw again, but others we seemed to run into all the time and friendships were formed. When you're sailing with several thousand people it's nice to see a familiar face now and then. But nobody is going to drag you into an activity you don't want to do.
So please show up, meet everyone, and then go about spending your vacation however you desire.

Shelley: I think Denise said something about doing dinner on Friday at Grills which is right near the port. I think I will try to find their web site and see what I can determine. We will be driving down Thursday so it's a little harder to plan for that evening since one never knows what situation may be encountered on the road.
We definitely want to do that Dixie Crossings restaurant again, but at this point I don't know if we'll do it before we check-in like last year or backtrack after we arrive at the hotel. I think it's about 30 minutes north of the port.

Donna: When you go into Beat Street (or wherever you go to make ressies for dinner) you will see a big presentation board that lists all the scheduled themes for each evening. It used to be that the first 3 nights were regular rotation only, but I understand it's recently changed. Unless you have REAS or a concierge room, there's no way to pre-book your Palo night, but you can certainly plan ahead and try to determine what night you wouldn't mind missing. I'm willing to forego the regular Lumiere's, regular Parrot Cay, Master Chefs or Tastes of the World as long as they're not the first, last or formal night! I'm hiring Shelley (she works for conch coolers!) to see what she can find out when she calls.

 

[smahoney6]

Hey- for Shelley- when I called Debbie to make our reservations- she said that they have not decided the best dining rotations for kids/large groups yet so I made my palo for mon night hoping it works out......go ahead and call though because some times were already booked for the spa.....

 

[mom2missmous]

Thanks Jeanneg and everyone for the advice! Yes, we are headed right away to deal with our ressies as soon as we board (this is our third cruise, but our first seven day! so have been through some of this). What concerns me is that it seems a lot of spaces may be booked for reas before we even board! I fear that no "good times" will be left! We already have an idea (as you suggested) of what we are willing to miss, but I hope they leave some spots open for those of us who need to book as we arrive (last time reas did not book ahead except for palo dinner, and the pkg was not nearly as popular back 'then"). I talked to dd (20) and dh and they would like to meet up with everyone at sailaway. We might want to join other times too that I think I recall seeing mentioned here on the board; if there is still room and it fits with our plans. Tea sounded great ,but I hate to leave poor dh out as he has never had a chance to do the tea either (I understand it is a ladies only thing for the group??) Looking forward to "chatting more with you all and meeting you soon!

 

[jeanneg]

Donna: I wouldn't fret about getting a good Palo ressie. I've never been very far forward in the front of the line (I've sailed twice before and I've been on the second and third queue) and have never had a problem getting the evening and approximate time I wanted. I'm more concerned about choosing the wrong evening for what we'd like to do. Different people have different preferences. And remember there are so many more opportunities on the seven day. I think the spa treatments are harder to get because they can only accommodate a limited number of people at any given time. As long as you're in line before they start boarding you should be fine.

BTW, all the activities listed are open to everyone. I don't think the group Palo dinner is going to happen.......I opted out of that a while back and I think some others did also. We basically decided that one night of Palo was too much food to do twice within a week.

About tea.......I am not the one to say who can and can't come. Last year we began ladies only and some of the husbands wanted in so we opened it up to everyone (18 and older). If the guys want in again, it's fine with me. I personally think it's the sort of thing that's more appealing to the ladies but then again, I ain't making the rules. Please do bring your DD to the sailaway.....my 2 daughters are 20 and 22. Jen(20) has sailed with us twice before but this will be the first cruise for Nikki (22). Last year she was studying abroard in Great Britain and the previous time she was enrolled in summer classes and working.
My daughter has always done fine meeting people on the ship. My son (19) is now claiming that we'll have to pry his fingers off the dock to get him on that "that boat"....he is quite shy and finds it very difficult to meet people in this type situation. Maybe now that he's a college kid, he'll be a bit more confident.

 

[sbennett]

I will do my best to find out what night is what....will call tomorrow from work. Conch Coolers or those Cocoloco's are good!
Dixie Crossings sounds really good for Friday Night. You could get in touch with us at the Radisson and we could meet you there. Grills sound good too which ever one is fiine with us!

Since we have a Disney CM (Sorry I forgot your screen name but I know it was funny) joining our group this time around is there anything you can find out ahead of time?

I feel slightly better now, I've packed for my niece's wedding for this weekend, whatever we don't wear WILL stay clean and pressed until the cruise....or mommy won't be happy!!! And I think we have enough clothes for the cruise since I've sorted through stuff and the kids both got new clothes for their birthdays. Not bringing tuxedos for Jay or Kristofer or gowns for Courtney or myself this year, too much stuff to bring. We'll just have nice clothes to wear Jay's got a sports coat for Palo's Dinner.

Hope everyone had a Happy and Safe Fourth of July!!

Won't be long now!!!!

 

[mom2missmous]

Belated happy 4th of July to everyone too! It is nice to have "someone" who undersatnds our excitment over Disney! Thanks again, Jeanne and sbennet for the info; we plan to be at port asap that day. It sure will help, though if we all have an idea of what meals are planned on which day before hand! We are planning on spending the night before the cruise at POR (we are driving down from ct as soon as my class dismisses at 3:30 pm ). Sooo, we will need to put on some serious mileage to get there in time ; but we have made the trip many times in the past so hopefully it will work out. TTC is picking us up from resort in am around 10 (I think I will switch it to 9:30), so hopefully we will make port at right time ( will park van at BCV awaiting our return there after the cruise, already cleared that with resort ) My DD says she would love to meet up with the other young people( although she is a bit shy;! at first)

 

[jeanneg]

The correct names are Dixie Crossroads and Grills....you can find both online. The menu for Grills is very nice and it's close to the port. They even have a 10%off coupon that you can print from your computer. Either one is fine with me, but I suggest anyone who is interested take a look for themselves.
About high tea........any other men interested?

Shelley: I just may follow your plan and leave the long dress at home. I'm so much more comfortable in my Chico's pants and I can always dress them up with a piece of jewelry. There's a wide range of what would be acceptable formal wear and I think I'm going to go with comfort. Speaking of comfort, I ordered my bathing suit today......what an ordeal.....finally settled on one with a little skirt.......I've become my mother at last!

 

[sbennett]

Unfortuneately couldn't find out much information from Debbie when I called for the REAS reservations except that they believe that Captain's Night will be Sunday.
Since it's a new itinerary it's all subject to change and she said she gets daily emails from the head mouse about schedules.

I tried really hard to get as much info as I could.....sorry. I really wanted to know too since I too didn't want to miss any of the special nights. We booked Palo for Wednesday which is San Juan at 6:30 so if there is a special that night we could still check it out.

 

[jeanneg]

Thanks for trying.....

Guess we'll have to wait until we get onboard to know for sure. Now, I don't want to throw a monkeywrench into your plans, but according to the old schedule, Wed is the WWTBAM show. We need all the support we can get in the audience just in case one of us gets the hot seat. If you have an early dinner you'll end up with the later show. BTW, I just got a reply from someone who just got back from the most recent Eastern and she said the Captain's Gala was on Thursday on SEMI-formal night (which was what we had last July). As I said, guess we just have to wait and see when we get on the ship.
BTW, did you choose the full body treatment or mini-massage with facial? I was leaning towards the latter, but Debbie said the other one was much better so I chose that. Now I'm scared because I've never had a massage before and am very concerned about getting naked! What can I tell you, it's the 12 years of RC schooling in me!

 

[sbennett]

Jeanne,
Debbie was pretty sure that Captains Gala was set for Sunday but they were still working out the other specials.
We're going for the wellbeing full massage. Your fully draped for the massage (at least the last one I had I was) I even remember leaving underpants on no bra though, but that was just so the back massage wasn't hindered in any way. I'm sure if you are uncomfortable about undressing all the way they make adjustments. My first massage was by a guy from our church who got his massage license and gave me a coupon for a free massage any time so I took him up on it when I was having problems with my back last year.....it was wonderful....a little nervous since I knew him but he was very professional about it.

 

[jeanneg]

OMG, the thought of taking off my bra and letting those mommas loose is enough to make me cancel the whole REAS! You mentioned a GUY masseur......do they have those on DCL? I'll need a paper bag over my head so as not to hyperventilate! maybe I can just pretend he's Johnny Depp........

 

[sbennett]

Jeanne, Jeanne, Jeanne, Jeanne....oh how you make us laugh
You'll feel like you're on cloud nine when you're done.
I don't know what type of massage people they have on the ship, maybe Denise knows.
Johnny Depp is a good thought though I'm trying to think who I'd imagine it would be......

 

[DonnettaR]

Just wanted to know if anyone has received their documents yet. I know that tomorrow is the 30-day mark, but just wanted to know. Thanks

 

[sbennett]

JeanneG has and we're all jealous!!

Hi Donetta are you new to our little group? Make sure you supply your info so Sandy our web guru can add your info.
Who's traveling and ages, cabin#, seating for dinner, late or early, excursions. etc.

Welcome!

 

[DisneyCruiseluvr]

No documents or excursion info.!

Has it been decided exactly where we are meeting on Deck 10 and at what time?

I vote for meeting before the safety drill (around 3:00PM or 3:30PM) because afterwards, everyone with early dinner seating will be rushing back to their rooms to get ready.

 

[wendym]

Oh Jeanne Mum and I are in stitches! I am sure the costume will be lovely and nothing like you are describing! Mum had the same worries you have about massages but she now loves them. However I wouldn't recommend going for what I have just had done - I went for a spray tan but not like the one Ross had done in Friends, this one the lady sprays you (with you being as naked as you want to be!) with an airgun! I couldn't trust myself to operate the booth myself but this was rather embarrassing! The lengths I am going to for my friend's wedding
As for documents I read on the boards that somebody else in the UK got theirs for the week after us but no sign of mine - won't panic yet but we leave on the 19th!!!
Wendy

 

[jeanneg]

Hmmmm....about the documents......maybe Mickey just wants us to sail with him more than anybody else! Actually, I just checked the dates to make sure they have me on the right cruise and it's fine. The funny thing is I have the docs for John and myself but the ones for the kids cabin (right next door) haven't arrived yet either. Go figure......

Wendy: please be careful with those fake tans.....Jason used something right before his prom and ended up orange! We don't need an oompaloompa for a dining mate!

Disneycruiseluvr: most don't have their documents but the excursion info came weeks (months?) ago. I would definitely call about that.