August 8, 2009 Western Caribbean on the Magic!

[Figment_Fan]

Congratulations on the upgrade.
I'm still back where I was on the Passporter before I left for a vacation in Florida 3 weeks ago. Still catching up on work. I will get back to it tomorrow afternoon. It is a great source.
I still can't believe we went to Florida and didn't stop by to see the Mouse. I was really tempted when I75 intersected with I4 We almost went to Disney for lunch on the way back home, but got time crunched. Oh well. The cruise is coming soon. First time in my life I have gone on two vacations within this short a period of time.

 

[kimgg]

OK this feels real now - I booked our flights today and got a better deal than I have seen so far and also booked the Hyatt at the airport for the night before. Now all I have to do is the car rental and that should be the easiest thing. My kids have never flown before and I think I am more excited for them than they are - I never took any "real" vacations as a child but they seem to take it for granted. I'm glad I can give them what I never had!

 

[justakid@heart]

Hi Out There!! THIS IS GREAT....to meet fellow cruisers before the cruise!!! I am a first time poster! My family and I are booked on this cruise. This will be our 2nd Disney cruise. It will be me (DM), D-Dad, DS and DN (niece). Thanks to the "kids sail free" we are able to bring her belong for the ride. We are from Maryland. I found the "cruise meet" forum by accident when searching for door decorating ideas. I also found out about the fish extenders (are they very popular??). Some have mentioned about upgrades; how do you inquire about that?

I look forward to chatting with you all.

 

[Buzzfan2Mom]

Hi there, Justakid! This will be our first Disney Cruise, very excited! I should mention that when I mentioned that I was able to upgrade from a Cat 10 to a Cat 9, it was an upgrade I paid for. I had been waiting and checking the DCL website for an ocean view to be available, it wasn't when we first booked.

Now we are just waiting for the kids passports, we mailed them in the first week of May. I'm sure I'll be on here more as it gets closer

 

[justakid@heart]

Good Mornin'. Thanks for the reply. I called DCL on a whim yesterday just to see what the deal would be for upgrading. I received a few price quotes but we'll just stick to cat 11. That is where we stayed on our 1st cruise and we were happy with it. I've done the on-line registration and booked the Palo. Haven't made any reservations for excursions. I was thinking of renting bikes in Key West, beach time at Grand Cayman and Castaway but have NO clue what to do in Cozumel. Any suggestions?

 

[Carlnne]

If anyone is interested- dolphin discovery is running a sale online. Only $50 for the swim, $75 for the royal swim. They are only offering so many spots and a few hundred were snagged while I was watching and deciding today. I booked- its just so much cheaper than the disney price but you can not write cruise on the form- i just wrote private.

 

[justakid@heart]

Thanks Carlnne for the tip on Dolphin Discovery. I was able to grab a 1pm time slot. The kids are so excited! Hope others can take advantage as well. Thanks again!!! Are there any plans for our families to meet on the cruise? It would be nice to get together for an "adult night" out AND for the kids to meet up at the kids club.

 

[Carlnne]

Congrats on your reserv for the dolphin encounter- Im glad someone else on our cruise could get the deal. This meet group has been pretty quiet since the beginning so I don think there are any plans to meet as of now. My kids are too old for the clubs- my son will be in the stack- but I know there are other families here with younger kids.

 

[dismagic09]

thanks for letting us know about the dolphin excursion. I have already booked the cayman dolphin encounter. Some of the excursions don't allow the younger kids to participate on the dolphin swim so i just stuck with what we booked. would have been nice to save some money.

Time seems to be going by faster and i'm really looking forward to our first cruise. The kids love watching the TV shows that have been on the past couple weeks on DIY and travel network. I DVR them and they are always asking to watch them. I can't wait til they see the ship - i'm sure they have no idea of the true size.

 

[Figment_Fan]

Can't seem to get caught up with anything.

Congrats to those who chose the dolphin encounter. That was a nice deal. The cruise almost seems less real now than what it did a month ago. Between school ending, catching up at work (or at least attempting to) arranging for the children's summer activities. Okay, DW did the large majority of work on that. As well as yardwork and dealing with my seasonal allergies, I am looking forward to this becomming more real. And, it's only about 60 days until we leave.

I'm sure we will meet up somewhere on the cruise. I still have to get my DD to sit down and communicate with the other kids her age on this board. I'll try again tonight. Until then, have a good day all.

 

[justakid@heart]

I know what you mean! I'm getting ready for a family visit this weekend, having more family come in July (for a week's stay) and then a famiy picnic in July also. Once those activities are over I think the excitement will finally hit me. I want to make this SUPER special for the kids, as my DH thinks they will be too old to go on another one!! So, I'm working on getting a fish extender, door decorations and pirate costumes. I looking for a place to buy a pirate costume for cheap, should I find such a place I'll let you know.

Keep your Disney spirits high!!!

 

[justakid@heart]

Hi All,

Found what looks to be a simple homemade pirate costume from familyfun.com (disney company). Michaels craft store had some pirate hats, hooks and eye patches for just a few bucks each. My son and I decorated the hat with stickers and foam (turned out nice!).

 

[kimgg]

Our thread has got to be the dead-est one ever. Each time I check I think there will be some posts since the last time and almost never is. Has everyone given up on it?

I kind of want to talk about my plans. I think people who are not going on teh same vacation are bored hearing about what others are going to be doing.

I just agreed to let my husband and 9 yr old son parasail in Key West. Watching videos on it I got all worried though. I get nervous when they just go on the ferris wheel. But I didn't want to let them go at Castaway Key, b/c then I would be stressing out about it the whole trip. Thanks to this board I found out there is a company near the port in Key West that does parasailing for 1/2 the price of DCL. I wasn't that scared of heights as a child but as an adult for some reason it has gotten worse, and I worry even more for my kids when they go on high things. Weird, I'm not scared of roller coasters (knowing you can't just jump or fall out) but on a slow ride I'm more afraid. Now I'm going to be scared the cord that they are attached to the boat w/ will break. I know I should not deny my son the experience just b/c I'm a scaredy cat.

Anyone here ever parasailed?

 

[Carlnne]

I have never parasailed but Im positive they will be fine. But you are just a normal mom worrying. I wish my kids would have done more things like that while they were younger.

(And this thread has always been quiet- not sure why)

 

[justakid@heart]

My husband and I went parasailing in Aruba a few years ago and had a BLAST! It was so much fun. I am terrified of roller coasters and a little squimmish(sp?) with heights but for some odd reason I've always wanted to try parasailing. Once I was up in the air I was so busy admiring the beautiful view and enjoying the ride I actually felt comfort. I think your son and husband will have a great time. Being a mother too, I fully understand being concerned for them. I also think they will be OK!!

 

[Figment_Fan]

I have always wanted to parasail. But from what I've seen of people doing it, it looks pretty safe. If the rope breaks they're still attached to a parashoot. Worse comes to worse, they'll just drift down to be picked up by the boat.

Okay, I keep reading about the new menus. Has anybody seen a copy? I found one from the Wonder about 2 months ago, but it was a poor scan. Keeping my eyes open.

I love trying new foods.

 

[Figment_Fan]

Okay, I just had to log onto the cruise website and check my reservation because I could not remember what excursions we picked.

Anybody else going on the pirate encounter off Grand Cayman?

 

[kimgg]

We were booked on the pirate encounter but I canceled it over this weekend. Now I plan on going through Capt Marvin for the stingray tour. I had one son who wanted the pirates (scared of stingrays) and one who wanted the stingray tour (b/c it's longer and he is pretty brave). Anyway I told them they can stay on the boat if they are afraid but hopefully they will get it w/ us holding on to them for security. I just really want to see the stingrays and snorkel. You'll have to fill us in on the pirate ship as I may regret canceling it.

So far we plan on the parasailing in Key West, Sting rays in Grand Cayman, and the Chankanuub park in Cozumel, all done directly. Trying to save money, DCL is kind of high! I'm just afraid to book the out of country ones in case we are unable to make it to the port. We may chance that they have available walk in spots and have a back-up plan. Still deciding . . .

Good thing is all the excursions are still available on DCL.

 

[justakid@heart]

The pirate encounter was on our wish list but decided against it when we heard about the discount with dolphin discovery (Cozumel), niece and son really want to "meet" a real dolphin. So, Grand Cayman will be a "day at the beach", bike tour in Key West and another beach day at Castaway.

Didn't know about the new menu! I would be interested in seeing what they will have to offer. I'll keep an eye open as well.

Is anyone hanging a fish extender on their door or decorating the door?

 

[justakid@heart]

I know we have a small group but if there are other interested in organizing a fish extender exchange I would be happy to help organize it. I've read other threads on this forum about them. I can't post pics yet (not enough posts) but if you search for fish extenders you can see pics of ones that are homemade, bought off e-bay and even decorated gift bags, there are a few variations to see. DIS members put small gadget gifts in the pockets such as pens, candy, stickers, temp. tattos, post cards, pirate stuff, bagged goodies (disney and non-disney items)...basically whatever you would like to give. Some give one gift per family and others one gift per person (totally up to you). Oriental trading (orientaltrading.com) was used by some to purchase small gifts at a reasonable price and I'm sure party and craft stores (Party City, Michaels, AC Moore) will have good ideas.

From what I've read this is a little extra way to add excitement to an "already AWESOME" vacation. If there is anyone else interested please let me know and we can discuss further.

Thanks