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

[mickeymom923]

Ginny - HAPPY BIRTHDAY

Hope you had a great day. Happy birthday and many more.

 

[Ct_TiggerFan]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GINNY

 

[Ct_TiggerFan]

Happy Monday all



one day closer

 

[Verandah Man]

Happy Monday all



one day closer

Hi Ed,

Yep, each day that passes gets us one day closer to our cruise!!!!!

 

[Reenieny18]

WOW.. what a MONDAY... Kids had off.. Go figure the teachers had a RETREAT day...

Had a busy night last night.. Had my first party last night and I guess it was successful... need to save money for the cruise. I have to use the OLD DISNEY card and then will pay that off montly.. I have until Oct 1 to put the cruise on it..

I hope TINA is feeling better soon...
Take care everyone.
Doreen

 

[RobinMarie]

We are back from our Eastbound Repositioning Cruise. It was a fabulous vacation. It was difficult to think about this vacation while planning the other. I fell in love with Disneyland while in California. We are so excited to be sailing with all of you!

Sailing with the Ship of Fools was an incredible, unforgettable experience. Fourteen days was not too long for us. Seven days will seem so short. There are many fellow Fools who will be with us again and for that we are thrilled.

I'm considering touring some ruins in Costa Maya and have put in a request with a small company run by local folks there.

Have a great night!

 

[Verandah Man]

Hi Robin, welcome home!!!

I was wondering if those who would be going to the airport after disembarkation from the cruise would like to charter a bus. I know a large group from the August Repo Cruise did this, and the cost was cheaper than getting a rental car or a limo service. If anyone is interested, please let me know.

 

[sandygirl]

HI ROBIN!!

Hello, Everyone!!

Sandy and I were looking at her scrapbook from our Jan 2003 cruise. Oh my, she looks like a baby. So many wonderful memories! And she really remembers alot of the trip. It reminded me of why we do this. Cruise, I mean. What other vacation promotes so many lasting memories in a stress-free environment where I don't have to do anything but spend time with my family? And we make nice friends, to boot.

Looking forward to planning this trip with you all. Andy, the bus is a good idea, it worked well for us. I'm not sure if we will be heading to the airport after the cruise, but if we are I will give you a holler.

Darlene

 

[RobinMarie]

Andy I enjoyed the bus rides we shared before and after the cruise. I believe the bus price was based on all seats being used up - I think the price should include gratuity less five seats. On both busses we did not have enough room for luggage and had to be mighty creative.

Although it was a two week cruise and no doubt folks had more luggage, I would still not book every seat.

Going to the airport meant we split the busses: one for terminal A and one for terminal B. This meant waiting for the luggage to be unloaded (and helping to unload). People who had noon flights were pretty antsy.

We are not sure of our plans yet, but would love to ride with Castaways if it fits our plans. I need to get a school calendar for next year!

 

[Diamond_Girls]

Hi Everyone! Does anyone know yet what nights will have what shows, and what nights will be formal, semi, etc? I love to plan and it's killing me to have so little information! thanks!

 

[Verandah Man]

Hi Everyone! Does anyone know yet what nights will have what shows, and what nights will be formal, semi, etc? I love to plan and it's killing me to have so little information! thanks!

I'm thinking we will have Formal Night on Monday, and Semi-Formal Night on Thursday (our two sea days). I don't know about the shows though.

 

[mickeymom923]

Hi everyone,

I'm so excited, crazy goofy and anything else because I just booked the Wonder for 12/8/05. I came back from a one week cruise and one week in Orlando and I need my DCL fix. So on the spur of the moment I booked it.

How about another mini dis meet on the ship??? lol

Hope everyone is doing well.

Bev

 

[Verandah Man]

Hi All,

I arrived and checked in at the Pop Century at 5pm this afternoon. Here to "surprise" some friends of mine before they leave for their cruise this Saturday on the Magic. I'm also trying to convince them to join us next August, we'll see what happens, as they plan on booking the 11 day cruise on the Wonder for next September.

I'll be staying here at the Pop until Friday morning, then Friday my mom and I will be heading over to see Shirley, and will be spending the night at her place. I have an early flight home Saturday morning, as I have a wedding to be at by 2pm Saturday afternoon.

Andy

 

[Verandah Man]

A view from my room at the Pop.

 

[Aurora's Mommy]

I love to plan and it's killing me to have so little information! thanks!

I am so with you!!! I can't wait until someone starts posting the navigators for the "Special Western Carribean Itinerary". I think the first trip is in December, so that at least gives us an 8 month head start. In the meantime, I plan based on different scenarios.

In other news, I couldn't help but notice that Joanna adopted a dog recently. We just put in an application on Monday for a male Jack Russell Terrier we found on Petfinder.com (we have a female JRT). We've heard nothing, and the waiting is killing me! (can you see this is a common theme with me). I have exchanged e-mails with his foster mother, and she mentioned that there is another application in for him. I'm kind of at the point that I wish they would just say yes or no so I could move on. What is taking so long!

 

[Aurora's Mommy]

I think the first trip is in December, so that at least gives us an 8 month head start.

Shoot, I just checked the DCL website, and the first Costa Maya cruise isn't until May 2006. Oh well, that still gives us 3 months!

 

[RobinMarie]

I was looking into possible fun excursions for Costa Maya and found http://www.chacchobenruins.com/

I emailed the contact requesting info on arranging for a private group excursion. Here is the response:

Dear Robin,

Thank you very much for contacting us. Please accept my apologies for my very late response to your email.

Based on my experience guiding in Costa Maya, my first recommedation for families interested in touring ruins while traveling with children is Chacchoben Mayan Ruins. The site is very accessible and has a full service area with a small shopping area where the locals offer handcrafts made in our village or in the sorrounding areas.
The ride to get from Costa Maya, (Majahual) to Chacchoben, is around 45-50 minutes. The road is practically new and in perfec conditions.

The ruins at Chacchoben, offer a great opportunity for the young ones to learn a little about history and the culture of the place, It also offers a a chance to see the conditions in which these ruins were found and how much they change after the restoration. The sorrounding jungle is also inviting for a small exploration, and even when we don't gurantee that we can see any wild animals, the jungle frequently reserves little or big surprises for our groups.

Regarding our services, we are always flexible and don't have a program already set meaning that we practically let our groups shape the tour focusing on their interests and preferences. This tour can be completed in 3.5 to 4 hours maximum, so you'd still have time left for other activities either in Majahual, or back at the port.

The price for this tour is $43 per person. It includes round transportation, travel insurance, entrance fees, local native guide, bottled water at the beginning of the tour and beer or soda at the end.

Please feel free to contact us in case you need any further details.

Sincerely,
Ivan Cohuo

 

[allshookup]

Hi All,

I arrived and checked in at the Pop Century at 5pm this afternoon. Here to "surprise" some friends of mine before they leave for their cruise this Saturday on the Magic. I'm also trying to convince them to join us next August, we'll see what happens, as they plan on booking the 11 day cruise on the Wonder for next September.

I'll be staying here at the Pop until Friday morning, then Friday my mom and I will be heading over to see Shirley, and will be spending the night at her place. I have an early flight home Saturday morning, as I have a wedding to be at by 2pm Saturday afternoon.

Andy

Andy you are sooooo lucky to be back in DW already! Don't ya just love POP??? I was a little hesitant since we had never stayed value before & I had heard some horror stories about crowds & noise but I didn't think that was true at all. I wish we were there now with you! Have fun!

I can't wait to get some news about our cruise too. We are definitely going to do the ruins on Costa Maya too, but we will probably go thru DCL.

Hope everyone is doing well!
Diane

 

[Verandah Man]

I had an absolutely MAGICal day today, starting with a change in our breakfast plans. Instead of going to the Poly for breakfast, we wound up going to a character breakfast at the Beach Club Resort. Rae and I were using this as our 50th Birthday Celebration. We had our photos taken with Minnie, Goofy, Chip and Dale. Rae and I were also each presented with a small chocolate birthday cake with a lit candle, all the CM's came to our table to sing HB to us. After breakfast we all headed over to Downtown Disney to do a little shopping. While I was checking out at one of the stores, the CM saw the birthday button I had on, she said to me that there was a very important call for me from Goofy and handed me the phone. The next thing I heard was Goofy singing HB to me. Once we were finished at DD, we went back to the Beach Club and spent about an hour or so in the Stormalong Bay Pool.

Rae and her family then went to EPCOT for the evening, while my mom and I went to a TGI Friday's for dinner. I'm back in my room now checking messages and getting ready to load today's photos in my laptop. Will try to post a few photos if it doesn't get to late.

Tomorrow, we are meeting Rae, Tom and Michael at Dixie Crossroads in Titusville for lunch, then will be driving down to Cape Canaveral to visit with Shirley and Norm and take them out for dinner. My mom and I will be spending Friday night with Shirley and Norm, then I fly home Saturday morning, as Rae and her family head over to board the Magic.

for now,

Andy

 

[SeaSpray]

48 weeks to go!!!