Christmas Cruise 2005!!!

[grimgrinnin]

Originally posted by Grumpy's Mom
Grim, are you a DVC member? Were you able to book those dates already? I would love to stay at SSR or BCV before the cruise, and that seems like a good way to do it. Had you stayed at any of the DVC resorts before you purchased your membership?

Hi Grumpy's Mom,
Yes, my DW and I are DVC members. We don't have our room for NYE booked yet - can't book until 11 months out at BCV (our home resort).

No, we hadn't stayed at any of the DVC resorts before we became members. We actually bought on our honeymoon, which was only our second trip to WDW (been to Disneyland more times than I can count). Bought at BCV sight unseen, as it was still under construction. The Disney bug has bitten. Hard.

On our first trip, I proposed to my then GF in the Magic Kingdom. On Splash Mountain. Right before the big drop.







It was downhill from there...
(that joke never gets old)




grim

 

[Aisling]

grim,
I read your proposal report, and it was so sweet, and funny, too! But I think you said the picture didn't come out? What a great idea, though!

 

[Ginny]

Aisling -

You are definitely not weird for packing so early - I call that being "very prepared" ......................as it should be! Heck, I was just pulling together the Lime Green "water wallets" and "hip packs" and luggage tags that I bought from the DIS before my last cruise so I would know where to find them!!

Grim -

I am so very jealous of you! We would love to buy into DVC but our timing just doesn't seem right! And, your proposal on Splash Mountain sounds simply wonderful.

DisneyJunkie -

While waiting to talk with Costco, may I recommend a couple of other websites that will give you great info on staterooms, excursions, onboard activities, stateroom photographs and some insight into the "Navigators" - the daily list of activities for the ship. It may help to be prepared when they start throwing info at you. I remember the first time I booked with DCL.......................I was "seeing double and feeling single" by the time it was over!

Platinum Castaway Club (Inkkognito) - Barb (with husband Tony)has been on 40 cruises and since I started reading these boards and is a big DIS supporter!

I can't seem to post the web address but no matter, you can link to it from Dave's site below:

DCL Tribute
(Dave from Marietta) - Dave has lots of great information INCLUDING a list of those staterooms which are considered "noisy" by previous cruisers. He is very kind and always so helpful to other DIS'ers.

http://www.dcltribute.com/

Hope these sites help!

We have a busy weekend - Soccer game at 9, birthday party in Annapolis (70 miles away) and when Erin and I come home...........DH will have picked up our newest family member: A black lab names Sampson. Can you say "little girl over the moon?"

 

[disneyjunkie]

Thanks Ginny, I've been reading Barb's and Dave's site. They both have loads of information that I'm finding very helpful.

I asked my son which park he wanted to do NYE and he said MK.

 

[belle&beastcrazy]

We have been at WDW two years for NYE. First in 2001 we were in the Magic Kingdom. It was cold that night. We all had on winter coats and gloves. We didn't enter the park till 4:00pm. We had dinner res. at Liberty Tree for 5:30. The park got more and more crowded. The lines for rides were very long even the train and people mover. They had a DJ in tomorrow land and passed out top hats and horns to everyone. AT 11:30 we made our way to the front of ther park for fireworks and the count down. It was wall to wall people, but the fireworks were well worth the crowd. Not only did they go off behind the castle but 360 around the park. Something I will never forget. We left the park about 12:15 and there were plenty of WDW buses ready to take people back the hotels. I think we were in bed by 1:15. We drove home the next day just a few hours in front of a snow storm that hit NC.

The next time was 2003 after our Christmas 2003 cruise. This time we went to MGM. The weather was perfect. WE just took a light jacket to wear. MGM had a live bands playing. The first band the girls liked better. They were playing more update songs. The band that played closer to midnight was more 70's. MGM also passed out top hats and horns. The crowd was not as big as MK had been. They also had a DJ between the bands and for the count down and fireworks at midnight.

Were we will be this time we havn't talked yet, but I have a feeling it will be back to Mk.

Kim

 

[Aisling]

I already have plans to stay at WDW for a night or 2 after the cruise, but now I'm having second thoughts. I think it would be too much emotionally to have to leave after only 2 days!

 

[Aisling]

Just curious...are there many Disers from the 03 Christmas Cruise coming on this one?

 

[Grumpy's Mom]

Aisling, there are seven families that I know of from the 12/20/03 cruise. All teenagers except one young lady (who will be 11 and then will turn 12 on the 31st (I hope I got that right, Ginny)) and one young man (who will be either 11 or 12).

 

[tiggerwannabe]

Hey fellow cruisers!

~Add 4 more to your list of DISer's~

Cabin 6610: Me (Colleen), Mom (Jill aka trinibjill), DD (Brittany wb 17) and DD's best friend (Stefanie also wb 17)

Looking forward to an exceptional Christmas!

~I printed this thread last night and read it from top to bottom~

You'all are VERY helpful, I've learned quite a bit from you already.


We've been to WDW 7 times in 10 years, but this will be (except for Mom) our first cruise ever!

 

[Aisling]

Hi Colleen,

My kids are so happy that there will be many other older kids on this cruise!

<img width=400 src=http://hometown.aol.com/deluxxtwofour7/images/parasail1.jpg>

This is my oldest son Chad, parasailing at the CR this past July.

 

[tiggerwannabe]

Nice shot! ~He's a handsome one~

Stefanie has done parasailing, my Brittany hasn't.

I heard about teens only excursions, I'm definitely going to sign them up if the eastern has "catamaraning."
(I think I saw it as a western excursion.)

Do you think we'll have a DISer gathering the first night?
Maybe meet on the deck or at a show??

 

[Aisling]

Do you think we'll have a DISer gathering the first night?

I'd love it!

 

[tiggerwannabe]

~Cool~

I'd like to get some input from everyone on exactly where---
we only have 15 months to plan...lol

 

[Ginny]

Colleen (tiggerwannabe) -

Welcome to our little group of cruisers. We are so excited that you will be joining us and there is a wonderful cadre of teenage girls. I only hope that my DD (9) turns out to be half as lovely as the other young ladies with whom we cruised last Christmas. Please let us know if you have questions or concerns that we can answer.

Aisling -

I have a sneaking suspicion that if you put the picture of your DS out on the main board (vice just our thread), the Christmas Cruise will sell out immediately. LOL

** Well, we have a new family member who will not be cruising with us but he is a charmer. His name is Sampson, he is 6 years old, a black labrador retriever and, for those that know my DD (Erin), she is simply, totally over the moon. As she told me tonight............"this is the dog I have been praying for my whole life and now he is mine!" We really did find a sweet dog and he is a great addition. I will tell you that, for us, going with an older dog has been perfect. He is sweet, gentle, kind, responsive and doesn't complete exhaust me with his needs for exercise.

By the way, there is an article in "More" magazine this month which highlights a single parent who has adopted 6 girls. Her second oldest (of 8 girls), Taylor, shared Christmas dinner with us aboard the Magic. Okay, maybe DS had something to do with it. Taylor was bright, funny, articulate, kind to a fault and a great sport. I was quite taken with her so imagine my surprise when I opened my magazine and saw this article. That is one of the things I love about cruising with DCL.....all the wonderful people you meet.

 

[Aisling]

Well, we have a new family member who will not be cruising with us but he is a charmer.

Ginny,
How wonderful about Sampson! I wish Erin many happy years with her answered prayer! I don't know much about dogs, but I do know, from watching the dogs shows, that Labs are very affectionate. We'd love to have a dog, but city-living makes it difficult. And even if we got a smaller dog, I'm afraid it would have a hard time walking/running in our house...we have only parquet and tiled floors, no carpeting, so the poor thing would have no grasp on the floor to get around. My sister's dog comes to visit once in a while, and he just slips and slides his way around my house!

Something cute...we decided that we were going to skip Formal Night, but when my sons saw the pics of Formal Night on some Disers photo-sites, they now want to attend! They are tuxedo-types, I guess!

Colleen,
I see you're from New Jersey. If you fly out of NY, we might even meet before we get to Florida LOL! This happened once, that I coincidentally saw a friend and his family on the same Orlando-bound plane as we were on. Pretty cool!

One more thing...I got a big box from DS.com...a Mickey musical toaster, a Mickey paper towel holder, Mickey sneakers, a Minnie T, and a rolling Mickey cooler. I thought DH was going to throw me out of the house, but when I told him about the discount, he was ok (phew! LOL!) I'm bringing the Mickey rolling cooler on the cruise filled with wine coolers...is that allowed?

 

[tiggerwannabe]

Ginny,

Congrats on your new addition. Sampson sounds great...
and thank you for the welcome. I am glad to have found such a welcoming group.

Aisling,

We are actually local to Philly. We'll be flying in the night before the cruise. My Mom didn't want to have to worry about flight delays by flying in same day. We'll most likely be staying at the Airport Hyatt~reservations still pending.

Have a Happy weekend

 

[Aisling]

This is my DS Jesse. He'll be 13 when we cruise.


I just bought a red Mickey tie for DH to wear on Formal Night, to match my red velvet dress. But I've heard conflicting reports on when our formal night is. Some have said it'll be on Sunday (Christmas night) with the semi on Thursday, and some have said Monday night. Does anyone know for sure, not that it matters, but it would help with my planning.

 

[tiggerwannabe]

~Can anyone recommend St Thomas, St Maarten or St John excursions specifically?~

We like to shopping, which I read is very good in St Thomas and we like to visit historic sites...My DD is also a little squemish re: swimming with the rays so snorkling might not be an option.

~Does formal night only apply to those scheduled at a specific restaurant in the dining rotation?~

And re: The Captain's Gala, How do you sign up for that?

 

[Aisling]

~Can anyone recommend St Thomas, St Maarten or St John excursions specifically?~

Colleen, I'm in the process of checking out the excursions, too. I'm very interested in someone answering!

~Does formal night only apply to those scheduled at a specific restaurant in the dining rotation?~

I think there's a set night for the formal and semi nights. I know that previously the formal was held on the Sunday night, and the semi (which I believe is called the Captain's Gala) is always on Thursday night. But I recently read a report that said the formal was now on Monday nights on the Eastern. Can anyone confirm?

Also, I don't think you have to sign up for the Captain's Gala, since it's automatically the semi-formal night that we all can go to.

Someone please correct me, as I've never cruised before. But I've been reading so much about all this, altho my info may not be up-to-date.

 

[Ginny]

Dear Colleen and Aisling -

Sorry for the downtime and slow response. I hope I can answer your questions and am happy to PM you the Excel Spreadsheet that I use to track everything (created so my rapidly dwindling memory power is not taxed any further and my family can all access the info). Here goes:

Captain's Gala -

There is no sign-up for the CAPT's Gala required. It is open to all and if you would like a photo with the CAPT (and Mickey / Minnie), you just stand in line as you do for all formal photos. Everyone looks truly lovely when they are all dressed up. This is one onboard activity that others have thoroughly enjoyed that we opt out of attending so I can't be any more specific. You will find that something that you wouldn't miss for the world is just not a high priority for others. I happen to LOVE the Animator's Palate show and Disney Dreams. Those are two things I just won't miss. For others, watching it one time is sufficient.

The Formal Nights may not be on the typical evening due to the holidays but they might. It is a bit too early to tell. When we cruised the Eastern in October, 2001, we requested PLAPLAP for our dining rotation (Parrot Cay, Lumiere's, Animator's Palate, Parrot Cay, etc) Formal night was on Sunday and Semi-Formal was on Thursday. Both Sunday and Monday were days at sea (which I love). They may have changed the rotation in the interim due to a change in itinerary or programming. I don't think there will be anything special scheduled for Saturday evening due to the heavy activity of embarkation, Sail-Away Party (5PM) and DD's "All-Time Favorite" (not): the lifeboat drill (4PM).

Itinerary -

I have also heard that they may be changing the itinerary for the Eastern to include Puerto Rico instead of ST. Maarten, etc, so my past experience may be moot. All of this is completely speculative but that makes planning a bit difficult this early out. I will tell you that we opted for the Golden Eagle Catamaran in ST Maarten and had a blast. But, DD was much younger than when we go this time so this may affect our selection. She was not the snorkler that she is now.

We, also, chose the Atlantis submarine in ST Thomas/ST John. We had a great time BUT another DIS member, MCazer, opted to book the same tour independantly at 12:15PM instead of 09:30AM and saved a great deal of money and had the entire submarine to herself, her family and one other family. So, there are opportunities to book privately IF you shop carefully and use businesses with whom other DIS members have had good experiences.

Colleen, I don't remember swimming with rays in ST Maarten but we did do that on the Western (we did a private charter vice DCL) and after Erin got over being frightened, she truly loved the experience. I wouldn't have missed it AND it was one one of the best pics of DH and DS.

Aisling, please tell your husband not to worry. Your Disney shopping is perfectly understandable. We have a Mickey bathroom and Winnie the Pooh powder rooms in our basement. And, just like you, we outfitted them from the Disney Store on Sale. I thought Chuck might balk but they really did turn out cute and we are going to get some of our signed pics from the cruise matted and framed for the walls. As to the rolling cooler...........I think you need to post that one on the main board to get the most recent status. It has changed over time and I have read some folks have had trouble while others did great. I did bring a 24 pack of Diet Pepsi on board in a box and no one troubled me. But, again, rules change so the main DCL board (with the most recent cruisers) would be helpful.

Again, my apologies for the delay. Keep those questions coming!