Cruise 10/11/2003

[dvcChrisVWL]

Rosemary - heh heh heh

Yes, I never heard of the Grumman employees. I was in Saudi for the first half of 1991. I was in the Port of Dammam / Al Khobar for the first few weeks. We stayed in the warehouse that was blown up by a falling scud - we had moved out just a few days before the loss of 28 troops. The impact of the warhead was about 20 feet from where I first had my cot.

Then I spent most of my time at the southern edge of the "neutral diamond" near Hafr Al Batn (North central border with Iraq). We ran fuel missions into part of Iraq (not-so-neutral zone), Riyadh (the capitol), Kuwait, and Dammam.

Just before we left, we stayed at Khobar Towers in Dhahran - where the terrorist explosion occurred a few years ago, killing 19 and injuring 500. Interesting place - I learned much about Islam and Saudi Arabia at the Culture tent they had set up. A few scholars came in and out offering lectures. I really liked the free chicken, rice and soda!

- Chris

 

[dvcChrisVWL]

Papa - We always did the Sun Tea at home - pitcher or jar of water and tea bags in the sun or in the window sill. For some reason it really tastes different. Maybe it's all that tannin being released in the boiling water that I don't appreciate...

 

[bettemom]

Hi all,

The glow in the dark rings for all our "kids" arrived...Boy !! Do they ever GLOW !!

Also the bracelets for our final Mexican sail-away came..It was such fun sitting on deck 10 & flying them down to deck 9.....

Sadly,it is SNOWING again...We still have almost 30 inches in our yard....

Later,Kim & Bette

 

[scootersmom]

Welcome to the new cruisers! So glad to see our group is growing.

Tina--I've been enjoying your tablemates threads.

I ordered the bubbles for our group today! Can't wait till they get here and I can put the logo on them. I got 12 dozen... do you think that will be enough?

Still planning to bring Buckeyes candy for all. We read that Harry London's has filed for bankruptcy, but will reorganize, so shouldn't affect us, we hope.

Bette--The glow-in-the-dark stuff sounds great! I've been buying some from the Dollar Tree for Josh and Becca for this summer when we go to fireworks, etc. Sure beats buying them when we get there!

Mary and Ave--Getting close to your Hilton Head trip! Will be thinking of you, green with envy. We just love it there and won't be going back till June 2004. We're planning 5 days at HH, followed by a few days at my parents' and then 4 days at Vero. Enjoy!

Eric--Thanks for the newest update. I've printed it out for easy reference.

We're thinking trolley tour in Key West and still undecided about the rest.

Take care, all!

Colleen

 

[Twinave]

Hi Everyone, I've got to brag a little about my Starfish Team. We won Team of The Quarter! That got us a small bonus and lunch at a nice place with with 4 doctors from the practice. Monday is the first Monday of the month so I am making sausage/cheese quiche for everyone on the team for breakfast.
Bettemom what are the Mexican bracelets? Did I miss something??
Well I've got to run to the store for quiche ingrediants.
Later, Ave'

 

[Cheese Please]

We arrived home at 1:30 AM this morning. I would have posted sooner, but it took me forever to get through all the posts on this thread in the last week.

We had a great cruise, but our return was saddened even more with the tragic events of the Columbia Space Shuttle. We hadn't even realized the shuttle was landing that day until we were in line waiting for the Avis shuttle. There were alot of people in the port area to watch the landing. We were told that we since it was coming from the north this time, we would not see it, but would hear the sonic booms. Then one of the shuttle drives loading luggage had a cell phone call from his wife telling he that NASA lost contact with the shuttle. We all just went numb. By the time we got to the Avis counter we heard that the shuttle had burnt up in the atomsphere. It made for a very depressing trip home. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the family, friends and co-works of those lost on the shuttle.

As for the cruise, we had a great time. No illness in our family and I did not see any on the ship. I did hear that some families disembarked at St. Thomas. I see from posts that some others on the cruise were ill.

The Floridians don't know what cold weather is. We left sub zero temperatures in NY. When we left port on Saturday, it was definitely cooler that other departures, but the sun was out and you were at the DISNEY MAGIC deck party. That made it plenty warm for me.

Sunday was a little grey and cool. The pools were heated to a very warm temperature, but only die-hards were in them. On Monday the had rerouted a little to get warm weather. It was great. The pool water was too warm in my book, but I guess lots of folks liked it that way.

The seas were a little rougher that they have been on our September cruise, but nothing terrible. Some really big wave in the pools though....

One of the highlights of the trip was that DS Corey (16) was picked for "Who want to be a Mouseketeer?" Mom made the decision that I had to go up on stage with him. We did pretty well. We got to the $175 on board credit level. We used our last lifeline (Ask the audience) for the $225 level. The audience response were about the same for all three answers with a slightly louder response for one of them. Since neither Corey or I had any idea of the answer and we had nothing to lose we used that answer, but it was wrong. Oh well. We had fun.

We also booked on board for September 2004. Since we already had our October 2003 cruise booked we could only get Castaway On board credit if we canceled and rebooked, but the price was $350 higher that what we have.

Will 2004 be a Cruisears II or a Cruisetoberfest III? We booked for September 25th Western. The two weeks before that are not available yet. The agent said the itineary is yet to be determined. Humm....sounds interesting but I don't think 2 weeks would be enough for the mediteranian they have been looking at. I wonder what else they are considering?

Dave

 

[RellingTwin]

Welcome back Cheese! Glad you had a good time. Congrats on the WWTBAM! Way to go!

Colleen, 12 doz will be PLENTY!

Our plans for the cruise include going to Mallory Square at KW, Captain Marvins in GC, and a dive/snorkel trip in Cozumel with a stop in C&C if time allows.

Bette...can't wait to see the kids with the glowing stuff. What is it about kids and stuff that glows in the dark They sure do love it!

I just checked the long range weather forcast for HH and it is not looking to good. Freezing rain!!!


I guess we better bring the warm coats and long undies

Dave, I think you are the 1st to mention 2004 cruise! Sept 25th sounds good to me!! That is DH birthday!The kids are saying they want to go to WDW for our next "Big" vacation, so I'll wait and see.

 

[papa]

Welcome home Dave and Ellen. I haven't thought about 2004 yet. Cruisears II or Cruisetoberfest III I think that if there was one in 2004 it would have to be Cruisears II as Eric and Anja only come to the states every other year.

Mary and Ave have a great time in Hilton Head.

Kim it was 74 degrees in Nashville today, and they are calling for snow flurries by the end of the week.

Hope that everyone has a great day tomorrow and we will see you on the boards. Oh, congratulations to the starfish team Ave, get the biggest steak on the menu, but don't let Casey get in the rolls Mike

 

[dan and scott]

Dave,

Could it be that the Wonder will be in dry dock for those 2 weeks in September 2004? Just a thought.

Dan

 

[dvcChrisVWL]

Welcome back, Cheese! Glad to hear your cruise went well.

By the way, we Floridians do know what cold is - anything above the Florida-Georgia state line! And that's why we're here!

 

[papa]

Chris when I worked for CSX in the track department we were working from Nashville and going to Miami for a job for a month or two. It was getting down to 50 degrees one night and they were saying be sure to get the animals in as it was going to be bitter cold

You can go to Key West and click on the Duval Street cam and watch what is going on the main street there. Avoid the sloppy cam if there are little ones as it is a bar intended for adult audiences.

Hope that everyone has a great day. Mike

 

[Windermere]

I was thinking tha same thing Dan. It would be 2 years and time for Wonder drydock.

 

[Windermere]

I used to work with an Orlando native that would wear long johns under his clothes when the temperatures dipped below 60. I always asked him what he would do when it really was cold. His response - "move further south"
Heck I don't even think it gets cold in the Philly area.

 

[Windermere]

I also understand that you can make a simple syrup (cook water and sugar) and use it to make sweetea. Just in case someone in the group can't have or doesn't want really sugar. Just make the tea sans sugar and add the simple syrup as desired.
Of course ture southerners may beg to differ on this one.

 

[@GoofyNut]

Missy - Don't listen to Dan if he tells you to stay away from us "strangers". He is just afraid that we'll take you on the side and get the real inside on him!

Dave & Ellen ... Welcome Home. Glad you had a nice trip. We were thinking acout you Saturday and hoping you'd not have too much trouble trying to get out of Cape Canaveral.

Like the idea of a Cruisears II for the same reason that Mike mentioned ... Anja & Eric are only on our side of the pond every other year. 9-25 may also be good for us as our real anniversary is 9-30.

Kim & Better ... Nice to see you posting again.

Rosemary ... I'll have to try the Bigelow's Green Tea. You don't have to wait till summer for the big bags.

RE THE SWEETTEA ... Lipton has "cold brew" large tea bags that I use. I take some really hot tap water, add my sugar and mix to disolve and then add my tea bags and put on the side to brew. That works out quite well too! Boy, didn't think a little thing like tea would draw so much attention.

Mary ... I'll do name tags again this year to go with the laynards.

Kathy ... Did your Castaway Cay burn/tan ever go away. Sorry, BUT you were glow in the dark red!

Key West Trolley for Art & I too!

RE CAPTAIN MARVIN'S ... has anyone booked via internet yet? If so what time did you book for? Would like to be with the rest of our gang.

Now that I have your attention (hehehe)
Isn't there a secret veranda spot on one of the decks at the back end of the ship (AFT?) I have read somewhere on the boards that a lot of the teenagers go there at night to hang out. Would it be big enough for us to do a meet there?

RE THE RADDISON ... Still checking into what a room would really cost us to get. I agree that what I heard about the munchies make it a little pricey.

Back to work .............

 

[Viking]

Folks,
do really think about Cruisetoberfest III in 2005? If I hear anyone of you making jokes about Germans and their tedious preplanning again.....
BTW, perhaps we will cross the Great Pond in 2004, but probably on the AIDA, a very trendy cruise-line, which caters to the German market. They offer cruises in the Mediterranean and in the Caribbean. And their special highlight is an Atlantic Crossing twice a year, starting on the island of Majorca, via Casablanca (Morocco), Funchal (Madeira Island), 7 days at sea, 2 destinations in the Caribbean and finally dropping anchor in the Dominican Republic. Then they stay there for six month and operate from there and finally they reverse the course.
But if DCL really starts doing cruises in the Mediterranean it is YOUR turn to cross the Pond. We will show you Europe then and make the biggest DIS-meet ever at Disneyland Paris

 

[@GoofyNut]

Eric, I'm going to have to get out the world atlas for those cruise destinations! Sounds like you'd need a branch of a money tree too.

 

[dvcChrisVWL]

Originally posted by papa
You can go to Key West and click on the Duval Street cam and watch what is going on the main street there. Avoid the sloppy cam if there are little ones as it is a bar intended for adult audiences.
[/B]

Mike - I didn't know about web-cam communities! That is neat. I will have to keep that in mind if I ever travel down to the keys. I will have to get on the cell and call someone to say Hi and have them look at me on the web!

 

[papa]

Chris you will be in the Keys with us in October.

 

[Cheese Please]

dvcChrisVWL,
LOL about your statement of a Floridians version of cold.

Thanks to everyone for their welcomes back. Also WELCOME to all the new members of our Cruisetoberfest II that joined while I was away.

I was looking further into the "two weeks" in 2004. Actually it is not two consecutive weeks and there are also weeks in August that are shown as unavailable. It is just that alternate weeks that would be Eastern Carribean. The Western weeks are available. Looking at the Wonder it is available for those weeks. I wonder if there are looking at some other Carribean itinerary for those weeks of it there is some specia cruises ala the DVC members cruise that they are planning. Maybe some block booking to other companies.

Taswira, any travel agent insight into this type of situation?

Dave