Christmas/Holiday 2011 on the Wonder: 8 night Mexican Riviera 12/18/2011

[SanDeeKath]

We are doing a dolphin swim either in PV or Cabo -- probably in PV. We did it in Cabo last Spring and LOVED it. For young children, a parent are REQUIRED to be with them at all times so I am not sure where you saw that no parents were allowed in these excursions. I believe in Cabo a parent must accompany a kid under 10. So my 11 year old will be going alone while my DH has my younger DD. I don't believe PV is any different.

The main difference between PV dolphin swim and Cabo is that 1) in Cabo the activity is a 5 minute walk from where the tenders drop you 2) it is a newer facility and has some nicer pools 3) PV is a 45 min bus ride to the facility 4) in PV the dolphin swim also has other animals like walruses as well as a nice little waterpark with waterslides and so on...

So this time we are leaning toward PV, although we would also like to do the Canopy Tour in PV (Zipline), which gets rave reviews. Interestingly, the zip line says minimum age of 10 on the Disney ship but if you book direct, the minimum age is 6 and 48" height! So we could theoretically make it with my younger DD IF we wanted to do it on our own (and get our own transportation out there, which I also hear is pretty far).

Manzanillo we booked some sort of snorkel trip through Disney but we may just do an all inclusive. I am reading the cruise critic boards to see if I can get some reviews about the all inclusives in the area as the Disney prices seem insanely high for it.

But I did reserve 1 activity per port for now since we are not 100% sure what we end up wanting in the end. Usually the closer we are to sailing the more likely we are to say, "oh what the hey, let's just do it through Disney just in case we miss the boat otherwise"

Katherine

 

[courtnvm]

Katherine, I didn't mean that parents weren't allowed to go on the port adventure, but in the Cabo Dolphin Kids, the parents are at the observation area, and the kids are with the dolphins. Allie wouldn't go for that. She is very timid, especially around water. Sorry for the confusion!

 

[SanDeeKath]

Katherine, I didn't mean that parents weren't allowed to go on the port adventure, but in the Cabo Dolphin Kids, the parents are at the observation area, and the kids are with the dolphins. Allie wouldn't go for that. She is very timid, especially around water. Sorry for the confusion!

Really? We did the Cabo dolphin and my DH stayed right at my DD's side the whole time (she is a little shy too). But of course they made him pay to be there. I wonder if you could just tell them that your DD needs you there. I am sure they would be fine with it. I would especially think it would be fine as long as you booked thru Disney, because if anything didn't work out, you could request a refund. If you book it on your own, it's a different thing. But it would not stop me from reserving the excursion. Find an early time in the day so that if something isn't right, you can head to the beach instead and then let guest services know when you come back on board...

I have the cutest pix of my DD hugging a dolphin. She had a HUGE grin on her face. I thought she was going to cry the whole time but she loved it.

 

[Double Trouble]

8 cabins so far!

Silly Little Pixie
SanDeeKath
Tinkerbelll
Courtnvm
Double Trouble
jzandmeplus3
Betsy918
mdlove2cruise

We're off to a really good start!

Christine

Christine, Double Trouble will be in 3 cabins total with 2 playing in the FE group. I sent you a PM. Thanks!

 

[Double Trouble]

We did the Mini Jeep 4x4 excursion in Cabo and loved it! We also did Las Caletas in PV and had a great day there as well. If anyone has questions about those, ask away.

I feel ya on the ages Katherine- our DS will be a couple months shy of 12- some of the excursions that look like fun are for 12 and up. We have never left the kids in the clubs while in port. Port days are family days!

Christine

Could you provide some details on the Cabo mini-jeep 4x4 please? We'll have 4 kids from 8-12 (so I may have to book it on our own as it looks like Disney minimum age is 10). I think my niece and nephew are going to do the dolphins one day (my kids have already done it twice so I'm looking for something new). Probably looking at Los Veranos in PV but nothing final yet. Hanging at the Mickey or Goofy pool with the kids in Manzanillo...didn't see much to do for families when we went there in April (just walked in town for 45 minutes or so). Thanks!

 

[Silly Little Pixie]

Christine, Double Trouble will be in 3 cabins total with 2 playing in the FE group. I sent you a PM. Thanks!

I updated post #152 with the info. I'll try to keep that a running list of the DISers who are participating.

 

[Silly Little Pixie]

Could you provide some details on the Cabo mini-jeep 4x4 please? We'll have 4 kids from 8-12 (so I may have to book it on our own as it looks like Disney minimum age is 10). I think my neice and nephew are going to do the dolphins one day (my kids have already done it twice so I'm looking for something new).

Sure! You are not in true Jeeps- they are little 4x4 vehicles. My inlaws have one and we call it a Mule. They seat 2, one person will need to be 21+ to drive, the other is a passenger. We took a bus from the port to the ranch, about 30 minutes away. We were given helmets, goggles, and clean bandannas to cover our mouths. It was really fun!
My DH and son ahead of us

The caravan reaches the overlook. Plenty of time for picture taking!

Awesome view

We drove down this beach before heading up to the overlook

Family time

Some of the inclines were pretty steep and it was definitely exciting. Our tour guides were great. No pressure to tip at the end. My DD tried to take pictures as we drove but it was bumpy! HAHA! I admit I got nervous in a couple places but the guides were near us all along on quads. The ATV excursion you see on the DCL website is with this one. Same time, same guides, just two different things you can drive.

Bus ride back cerveza! I think the beers were $3.

 

[Brooklyn]

I updated post #152 with the info. I'll try to keep that a running list of the DISers who are participating.

Any thoughts on using a Googe Spreadsheet for this cruise? We have used these on a bunch of our cruises and makes things so much easier to keep track of. We can keep track of everyone, fe, and anything else we can think of using this spreadsheet.

I set one up.... https://spreadsheets.google.com/spr...H8w-DdDNsQ2Q2U3FSa1VPaFZtc2xOUHpNX3c&hl=en_US

Let me know what you think.

 

[courtnvm]

Brooklyn, I like the spreadsheet.

We have done one other cruise, and participated in the FE on that cruise, but I had no clue who anyone was. There were 2 or 3 of us that met up before the muster drill, but other than that, I had no clue who the DISers were then.

I'm a TGM girl, and there were a bunch of TGMers on the boat, so we kinda stuck together. But, I don't think I'm renewing there, so I know my kids are going to want to know about any other kids their ages. Well, they'll want to know once we board, 'cause they won't know anything else until then.

We have recently moved and are paying 2 house payments. My DH and I talked seriously about canceling this and saving the money. That discussion lasted about 30 seconds. I'm so glad he's just as in love with Disney as I am! I've got to get the kids in school, get our house unpacked, and then I can concentrate on this!

 

[LovesToRun]

Hi Everyone,

It has been a while since I have posted here... we have had a super busy August, but I have been consumed with planning our November 7-day Eastern Caribbean Disney cruise, so that is another reason why I haven't been here as much. But, I just wanted to check in!

I just got caught up on the posts, and sounds like there are some new people here! That is great.

We are not going to participate in the FE's... never really been our thing. But, from what I've heard, it is a lot of fun for those who do participate.

We are interested in the cruise meet on the first day.... so it'll be nice to just meet some folks. My inlaws are coming with us on this cruise, so we'll be spending a lot of our time with them, but we definitely want to get to know more people on the ship.

We might possibly be interested in a "tasting" group session. It depends on what you all decide to taste. We are big wine people, so if it is a wine tasting, we'd totally do it. If it's a mixology, it depends on what it is... we aren't as big into hard alcohol.

As for excursions, we are still trying to decide. In Cabo, we'll just book once we get to shore... much cheaper than booking through Disney, and super easy. There are people all over trying to sell their activities, and yes, I agree with a previous poster, to not be afraid to barter, or ask for a lower price. They are used to that, and it's kind of part of their culture, so though it's not something we'd typically do here in the states, people do it all the time there.

We got such good deals at Cabo on things... like Parasailing for all 4 of us for like $40 total, and water taxis for $2, etc... we just talked them down.

But, we are still figuring out Manzanillo and Puerto Vallarta. We've been to both ports on the Wonder, so we know what it's like at both places... we'll figure it out. We get to start booking on Sep 19, so we have time to still figure it all out.

Take care,
Kathy

 

[Silly Little Pixie]

Any thoughts on using a Googe Spreadsheet for this cruise? We have used these on a bunch of our cruises and makes things so much easier to keep track of. We can keep track of everyone, fe, and anything else we can think of using this spreadsheet.

I set one up.... https://spreadsheets.google.com/spr...H8w-DdDNsQ2Q2U3FSa1VPaFZtc2xOUHpNX3c&hl=en_US

Let me know what you think.

That's neat, Brooklyn! I like it! So does everyone just add themselves to it? Or just one person maintain it? Also, if we use that can the link just be sent via PM, rather than on the main thread? I know some folks (myself included) don't like to put our cabin #s and/or kids names out in "public" so to speak. I am just thinking if you save the PM then you can always access it, or bookmark it on your computer. Am I thinking of this correctly?

Thanks! I like it better than Excel

Christine

 

[SanDeeKath]

Hi there,

I like the spreadsheet idea but definitely need to NOT post it on a public board. How about if we create an email list and then we can email eachother the info and the link to another spreadsheet (not the one that was posted on this thread already, preferrably)....

Any thoughts? I like things like this in private. Katherine

 

[Brooklyn]

Hi there,

I like the spreadsheet idea but definitely need to NOT post it on a public board. How about if we create an email list and then we can email eachother the info and the link to another spreadsheet (not the one that was posted on this thread already, preferrably)....

Any thoughts? I like things like this in private. Katherine

Works for me

 

[Tinkerbellll]

Me too!

All I know is that school is back in session for me (both as a teacher and student), and I am sooo very happy to have this wonderful trip at the end of a very long few months!!!

Happy planning to those of you who can!!! I am looking forward to October 4!!!

 

[Double Trouble]

Sure! You are not in true Jeeps- they are little 4x4 vehicles. My inlaws have one and we call it a Mule. They seat 2, one person will need to be 21+ to drive, the other is a passenger. We took a bus from the port to the ranch, about 30 minutes away. We were given helmets, goggles, and clean bandannas to cover our mouths. It was really fun!

Some of the inclines were pretty steep and it was definitely exciting. Our tour guides were great. No pressure to tip at the end. My DD tried to take pictures as we drove but it was bumpy! HAHA! I admit I got nervous in a couple places but the guides were near us all along on quads. The ATV excursion you see on the DCL website is with this one. Same time, same guides, just two different things you can drive.

Silly Little Pixie,

Thanks for the info! Awesome pictures too! I'll have to look into booking it locally as my kids are too young. The "mules" look fine. Who did you book through?

Thanks!

 

[Silly Little Pixie]

Silly Little Pixie,

Thanks for the info! Awesome pictures too! I'll have to look into booking it locally as my kids are too young. The "mules" look fine. Who did you book through?

Thanks!

The ranch was called Rancho Carisuva. We booked through DCL. My DH did not want to chance an independent excursion in Cabo due to the shorter times. Although, we did this on the first Cabo day (11-7 or something?) and it would have been fine to do on your own. We met a bus behind some building a little bit from the marina.

 

[Silly Little Pixie]

Me too!

All I know is that school is back in session for me (both as a teacher and student), and I am sooo very happy to have this wonderful trip at the end of a very long few months!!!

Happy planning to those of you who can!!! I am looking forward to October 4!!!

Same here!!! We are already in our 3rd week. All the Back to School Nights are done- mine, DD's at the high school, and DS's at the middle school. Whew. Now I'm ready to just settle into our regular routine. And of course, plan for the cruise!!

Christine

 

[betsy918]

It sounds like we have a few teachers here (I teach 3rd grade) who are using the thought of this cruise to get us through until Christmas!!

 

[Silly Little Pixie]

It sounds like we have a few teachers here (I teach 3rd grade) who are using the thought of this cruise to get us through until Christmas!!

Yes indeed! Third grade here too. where do you teach, Betsy? I'm in Fontana, Ca.

Until last school year our schedule was such that I always had the month of November off. Last school year our Board changed it a few months earlier, and I had already made plans for DCL/WDW so I went anyway!

This year I just have to slug it out alllll the way to Christmas! I am definitely counting down.

 

[betsy918]

Yes indeed! Third grade here too. where do you teach, Betsy? I'm in Fontana, Ca.

Until last school year our schedule was such that I always had the month of November off. Last school year our Board changed it a few months earlier, and I had already made plans for DCL/WDW so I went anyway!

This year I just have to slug it out alllll the way to Christmas! I am definitely counting down.

Hi...I teach in San Jose. I jut finished my second full week with the kiddos. My daughter didn't start school until yesterday.We live 30 miles from where I work, so she's in a different district. I booked a February cruise at first, as I have a week off for Presidents' Day(s) but felt guilty for pulling her out (she just gets a long weekend.) We changed to this cruise for not much more, though I had to give up the veranda for an oceanview. I'm counting the days!!!