Calling All 8/19/06 Special Western Cruisers! AKA "The Cruisin' Castaways" Part 2

[lmok]

Oh my gosh!! You guys almost have 6000 post. Go, August cruisers!!!!

 

[castoff]

Linda: Keep me updated on how things are going. I doubt we would be able to fly out on Friday morning because of kids & dogs so we might just see you at Rochester airport after all. I will let you know when we get our tickets.

Dante has lots of chew toys but sometimes bites me if I am talking on the phone and not paying attention to him. He has started to lose his baby teeth. One thing we have discovered is our older dog has been taking his food and rolling it on the floor to the puppy. They have a buddy system going on. The older dog has been eating the puppy food. Dante has a sensitive stomach so it hasn't been going over to well, if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I wouldn't have believed it. It's like having 2 children at home.

 

[mickeymom923]

Hi everyone

Boy the time is flying by. I checked airfares on SW yesterday but they are only booking thru 8/3. I usually fly SW and hopefully I'll be able to book when the prices initially come out since they will be lower. For everyone that did book already, if you check the prices once in awhile, and the prices are lower on the same thing you booked, the airlines will usually give you a voucher for the difference.

I don't know what to do. DS Harley's birthday was the 15th and he is now 20. He has been telling me for awhile that he doesn't want to go on this cruise. Thinks he's too old for DCL - no casino, not into the shows, etc. I don't want to hear that. Now he's in school for real estate and by August, he's hoping to have a job. (good excuse for not going lol). I haven't paid anything on the cruise but I do have to get airline tickets. He's really a great kid and very responsible (anything goes wrong - he's responsible ). I just realized I'm just venting because I don't want to let go. Right?

I know we will be flying down atleast the day before and staying one week after the cruise at a timeshare.

Andy - sorry to hear about your dog.

Hi to everyone.

Bev

 

[SeaSpray]

Hi everyone

Boy the time is flying by. I checked airfares on SW yesterday but they are only booking thru 8/3. I usually fly SW and hopefully I'll be able to book when the prices initially come out since they will be lower. For everyone that did book already, if you check the prices once in awhile, and the prices are lower on the same thing you booked, the airlines will usually give you a voucher for the difference.

I don't know what to do. DS Harley's birthday was the 15th and he is now 20. He has been telling me for awhile that he doesn't want to go on this cruise. Thinks he's too old for DCL - no casino, not into the shows, etc. I don't want to hear that. Now he's in school for real estate and by August, he's hoping to have a job. (good excuse for not going lol). I haven't paid anything on the cruise but I do have to get airline tickets. He's really a great kid and very responsible (anything goes wrong - he's responsible ). I just realized I'm just venting because I don't want to let go. Right?

I know we will be flying down atleast the day before and staying one week after the cruise at a timeshare.

Andy - sorry to hear about your dog.

Hi to everyone.

Bev

Bev: I can understand how you feel, regarding Harley. One of the reasons that I *really* wanted to do this cruise is because Craig is just turning 18 (this week, actually!), and I want this to be our last family vacation, while both boys are still basically "kids". I mean I know Craig will be 18 on the cruise, and I know we'll still take family vacations, but this is his last summer before college, so I feel like it's his last summer of still being a kid. lol I know that does not make rational sense because really, nothing much is going to change. LOL He's already working, and will continue to do so, and he'll be living at home while going to college, so really, nothing much will change after this year, but somehow, I feel like this is his last childhood summer. Ah, I don't know. lol Anyway, I do understand how you feel, and I know it's difficult to let our kids go sometimes.

I know you've mentioned a limo company, can you please send me the info and post the rates here, or send them to me via email? Thanks

I'm going to book the flights today. John asked me to pay everything off, and to book the flights, so that everything is taken care of. I've already paid off the cruise, I've paid off our May trip to Disney World, and now I only have to pay for the airfare. Since the kids aren't crazy about Disney World anymore, I was thinking of coming home the day we get off the ship. But, I think I'm going to book us for a night at a Disney hotel and fly home the next day. This way, I'll be able to ride the newly refurbished Pirates of the Caribbean ride and see the new Captain Jack Sparrow and Barbosa figures that they're adding in right now (Pirates of the Caribbean is closed from now until some time in July) Since John and I now have annual passes, it won't cost us anything to go to the parks. The boys will only want to go to DisneyQuest, Downtown Disney, and maybe the Boardwalk area, so we'll get them whatever tickets they want.

 

[Ct_TiggerFan]

Hi All,


Since I have the time, we are taking the Autotrain down on the 13th of Aug, and staying at Old Key West resort 14- 17th , on the 18th over to the Radission,
After the cruise we are driving back to CT , maybe taking 4 or 5 days, to see some sites along the way home. Maybe Dollywood, and a trip on the Blue Ridge parkway and skyline drive.

Depending on time maybe stop at Hershey too.

Only real plan is to be off the road no later than Sept 1 before labor day weekend traffic gets bad.

 

[Denise W]

Terry,

We booked Jet Blue from Boston, and are paying $99 each way. We booked back in November and got non stop flights both ways.

Denise

 

[PoohJen]

okay Y'all, WHEN can we first put in our ressies for spa, palo's, excursions? Can we do all this online, or via phone? Does it make a difference if we are Castaway Club members (i.e., repeat DCL cruisers)?

Last time around, I did REAS primarily for the scheduling perk. Is this still worthwhile?

you would think, having made these ressies 2 years out, I'd have this date circled in my calendar already!

Hope all is well! Things crazy here (as with everyone!); I haven't even given a serious thought to excursions yet...Vegas trip (and THREE business trips) coming up, then it's all DCL-planning, Baby!

 

[SeaSpray]

Denise: As of right now, JetBlue has the best rates, but this morning, American Airlines had the best. I'm going to give it another day and see what the rates look like tomorrow morning. lol What time is your flight down on the 18th? If I end up booking JetBlue, maybe we'll be on the same one!

Jen: Don't feel bad, I have no idea what day we can start booking online. LOL I know that as Castaway Club members, we can book our Palo and Spa reservations a couple of weeks before first-time cruisers.


Everyone: Well I did save about $70 today!! I called Access America to get a quote for travel insurance and found out that you pay the price for each person based on cost, but I also found out that it's based on age at the time you purchase the insurance, not the age you are at cruise time! This means that I *just* made it under the wire to get DS Craig, who will be 18 in THREE days, included in their "Kids Covered Free" program!!!! If I had waited four more days to get the insurance, I would've had to pay for Craig because he'd have turned 18 already, instead of getting him for free at the age of 17 that he is today! I am happy, finally I had good timing and it paid off

P.S. FYI: I had to call Access America because they no longer list the "Kids Covered Free" policy on their web site.

 

[PoohJen]

Thanks, SeaSpray, I still need to get trip ins. How much pp?

 

[castoff]

okay Y'all, WHEN can we first put in our ressies for spa, palo's, excursions? Can we do all this online, or via phone? Does it make a difference if we are Castaway Club members (i.e., repeat DCL cruisers)?

Last time around, I did REAS primarily for the scheduling perk. Is this still worthwhile?

you would think, having made these ressies 2 years out, I'd have this date circled in my calendar already!

Hope all is well! Things crazy here (as with everyone!); I haven't even given a serious thought to excursions yet...Vegas trip (and THREE business trips) coming up, then it's all DCL-planning, Baby!

Jen This might help you with dates of ressies.
http://pscalculator.net/allearsnet/pscalcae.php


I also for the first time would like to get trip Ins. Is it to late? Where to start? Look? Prices? I keep putting it off just because I don't have any experience with it.

 

[castoff]

Jen: I believe it's 75 days out for first time cruisers
90 days out for Castaway Club
105 for Romance package or Category 1,2,3

 

[Verandah Man]

Winter is "offically" over!!!

Happy Spring Everyone!!!

 

[Denise W]

Terry,

We are flying down a week early, on 8/12, because we will be at WDW for a week before the cruise. I don't if that makes a difference in our price or not, but I booked it as soon as I saw that price because I figured it would just increase from there. Our flight down is the 10:30 am one.

We usually fly from PVD, so now we will have transportation to Logan to add in, but I still think we got a pretty good price.

Denise

 

[zack&alexmom]

How scary and sad about the 7 year old. My DD rarely wears scarves but I will be mindful of anything that could be around her neck. The dog is a German Shepard / Husky mix and for the most part is good just a puppy that chews. She will be 5 months old on the 28th. Her name is Ariel, named by my DD who would be a mermaid if she could.

Tina - we were able to get on the earlier flight so we will be flying out of Rochester at 12:27 and will be in FL by 3:30. I am getting excited.

Terry - I wonder if I saved any money since my husband turns 40 tomorrow and I booked the insurance on Saturday. Our insurance price was way up this time because we have my MIL and SIL and their age adds up compared to just DH & I with the kids for free. We went with Travelex through insuremytrip. I used Access America for my last two trips but the price was higher this time.

Hope everyone is doing well.

Linda

 

[Diamond_Girls]

Hi everyone! The cruise is getting closer and closer and I'm about ready to jump out of my skin! Although I hate the waiting, I will hate returning home from the cruise even more. Anyone else feel this way?

Are there any "meets" planned yet for the cruise? I tried going through all the previous posts but there are almost 6,000 of them (wow!!) so I thought it may be faster to ask... I have 2 daughters, 14 and 12 and the 12 year old is a bit shy. She's concerned about going to the lab because she doesn't know anyone... anyone in the same boat (in about 151 days that will be "literally")?

 

[castoff]

Hi everyone! The cruise is getting closer and closer and I'm about ready to jump out of my skin! Although I hate the waiting, I will hate returning home from the cruise even more. Anyone else feel this way?

Are there any "meets" planned yet for the cruise? I tried going through all the previous posts but there are almost 6,000 of them (wow!!) so I thought it may be faster to ask... I have 2 daughters, 14 and 12 and the 12 year old is a bit shy. She's concerned about going to the lab because she doesn't know anyone... anyone in the same boat (in about 151 days that will be "literally")?

I have a DD who will be turning 13 in Aug. but she will not be joining us on this cruise. I sometimes feel guilty about not taking the kids but when I remind myself we have a cruise booked next year we are taking them on......It gets better. I am also getting really excited about this cruise since it's almost 2 years in the planning. There are alot of kids going from this group.


Linda: The flight time sounds good. I have my list of things to do just need to do them. I will look into ins. also. I will let you know when we book our tickets.

 

[SeaSpray]

Hi everyone:

I finally booked our airfare! We'll be flying on JetBlue. We've never flown with them before but I've read a lot of good things, so we'll be giving them a try this time. We're flying down on Friday, August 18th, staying at the Radisson. Then we'll be spending a couple of days at Disney after the cruise. I haven't decided on a resort yet. I might choose one of the Port Orleans resorts so that DSs can have the boat transportation to DowntownDisney.

Diamond_Girls: My DSs will be 18 and 15 by the time we cruise, but DS15 is a bit on the shy side too. Last cruise he was 13 and didn't care much for The Stack with all of the older teens. I think this time he might be more comfortable because he'll be in the middle age bracket for The Stack. Also, don't forget there is now the new kids area that she can go to (I think it's called Ocean Quest??), in addition to the Oceaneers Club for her age group. Where are you staying the night before the cruise? A lot of us are at the Radisson at the port, so if you'll be there too, we can all meet, and the kids can meet too.

As far as meets on the ship, I don't believe we have any set up yet....?? We will DEFINITELY set up a meet for the day we board the ship, as well as other meets during the cruise. We also had the idea to meet up on the family beach at Castaway Cay, at least for one of our days there

How do all of you feel about these suggestions for meets:

*Radisson the night before

*After the tender drill, in the promenade lounge

*Quiet Cove (adults pool) meets (can be various times)

*Goofy Pool & Mickey Pool meets for those with little ones

*Castaway Cay family beach meets for the days we're there (yay twice!)

*Palo brunch (whoever wants to go, perhaps we can make a group reservation?)

*Palo Afternoon tea (same thing, group ressie for whoever wants to go)

*Palo dinner (again, same thing, if a group wants to dine together)

*Late night show meets (last cruise, there was a meet during 60's night, it was a riot!! I handed out glow in the dark necklaces to all the DISers I saw)

*Excursions - What would be more fun than going on an excursion with a bunch of DISers?!

Anyway, these are just my ideas, nothing concrete, obviously!! I would love to hear everyone else's ideas too

 

[SeaSpray]

Terry,

We are flying down a week early, on 8/12, because we will be at WDW for a week before the cruise. I don't if that makes a difference in our price or not, but I booked it as soon as I saw that price because I figured it would just increase from there. Our flight down is the 10:30 am one.

We usually fly from PVD, so now we will have transportation to Logan to add in, but I still think we got a pretty good price.

Denise

I guess we won't be on the same flight then I hope you have a great time at Disney World before the cruise!

 

[SeaSpray]

Winter is "offically" over!!!

Happy Spring Everyone!!!

YAY!!

(<--April showers. LOL)

 

[castoff]

Hello Fellow Disers
I thought it would be fun if we had a Cruise Exchange Package going on around here.
This is how it would work, after the goup decides on the amount by poll 10,15,20 not including shipping there would be one week to sign up. You would PM me your info..........Name, adresses we can decide to do just for adults or include children.
Pick a deadline to mail packages and enjoy the " Goodies " when they come in the mail. Examples could be travel book for Costa Maya, snacks, Disposable camera ect. Anything cruise related you get the idea.