Cruising The Canal May 1, 2015 (Roll Call in Post 1)

[CarolynU]

Hmmm...I do not know about being a lone female. We are a family of 3 if you want to be our 4th passenger and split a cab on the way there, you are more than welcome to! We will leave as soon as the ship opens up for passengers to get off. You may be able to join up with a family returning to the ship for the return as well. From what I understand, we will be the only ship in port that day, so the area will be kind of "quiet".

Found it! Yes please. I would love to do that and share the cab cost. That would be absolutely perfect. I'm in stateroom 1078. Getting off as soon as the ship docks is fine by me too. If I can't find anyone else to share the return trip I may ask the cab driver if he would consider coming back for me. That has worked in the past. I am very grateful to you for this offer. Thank you. Let me know how you want to get this set up.

 

[JAM9842]

@MunFam, that's who we're booked thru for our Cartegena tour! Yay! My FiL has some physical limitations and things so we're going to keep our tour private in case we need to switch things up on the fly. It sounds like it'll be a fabulous tour, tho! All my communication with Dora has been exceptional! My husband works with a fellow that's from Cartegena. He recommended Dora as well. I thought that was a solid recommend if it came from someone who's from Cartegena. Right???

I originally tried to book Rogers Boat for Cabo. They're pretty highly rated via Trip Advisor. Paypal'd my $350, exchanged communications specifying we wanted a private tour for much the same reasons as Cartegena. Just in case we need to make changes on the fly. Everything was all booked, confirmed, and set. A month or so later I get a random phone call from them saying they think maybe we would rather their short tour because maybe the 3+ hours wasn't a good fit for us. Didn't help I was totally out of it on cold-meds when she called. Anyway, she called a few more times. It started out they were trying to talk me into this shorter tour. Then it was trying to talk me out of the tour altogether. She even tried "Well I know it's a very expensive tour and I'd hate for it to be wrong for you." Which was really funny because I've paid more than double for shorter charters so I didn't think it was expensive at all. Finally I got her to fess-up to what was really going on. They had messed up and double booked. She wanted us to pair up with another family. But, with FIL's needs I just didn't see that being the best option for us. That's why I booked something private to begin with. By then I was not feeling so good booking with them anyway so I cancelled. In the end, I'm glad it didn't work out. When I had to sit back down with my MiL to discuss other options for our Cabo day, sailboat charters came up. They've never been sailing before and she seemed super excited to give it a whirl. I love to sail & have always wanted to go with my hubby and sons. So there! We found a fabulous private sailboat charter that really will be so much more than what Rogers would've been. Costs more, yes, but that wasn't a problem from the get-go. I'd rather pay more to get more. Ya know?

Vallarta: my in-laws are doing the town & tequilla tour thru the cruise line. My 19 yro is so adamant he wants to do Las Celetas. This being his graduation celebration trip we want it to be his wishes.

I still haven't decided exactly what date to do my son's (homeschool) graduation! LOL! He says he wants the day to be Panama Canal day but I don't want to clutter that day with to-dos. I was wanting to keep the actual canal day as open as possible. So I was thinking one of the at-sea days, maybe the first formal night. It'd be neat for him to get pics with Mickey and/or the captain all dressed up holding his diploma. I need to nail down the date soon, tho, so I can get his diploma, etc. ordered! LOL!

CONGRATS on the homeschool graduation! This is the second year of our homeschool journey with a 1st grader and one in pre-k but we are loving it.

 

[Abuss]

CONGRATS on the homeschool graduation! This is the second year of our homeschool journey with a 1st grader and one in pre-k but we are loving it.

I don't want to get into a big discussion here, since it is not the right forum, but would love to meet some of you home school moms onboard or maybe just email me. I have a 3 yr old who is going to preK3 this fall. I would love to consider the homeschool option, but honestly know very little about it. My email is agantz@yahoo.com. Thanks for any input.

 

[canyoncam]

Only 10 more weeks!!!!! And I'll be drinking the first drink of many on the ship!

 

[CarlaSB]

Hello, just signed up for this trip with my DH and 4 year old son. We are Joe, Carla and Ethan from Northern CA. This will be our first Disney Cruise, so reading like mad to get caught up. Last November, while in St. Thomas, USVI on vacation, we watched the Magic leave port, and it looked like fun.

Have lots of questions- including is it better to sign up for shore excursions through a private company or through DCL? Any tips about shore excursions that include a 4 year old?

Thanks for any advice! Carla

 

[MunFam]

Hi Carla! We have a 4 year old DD and live in SoCal. For excursions, I put together a private tour for 18 (6 families) in Cartagena because I did not like either of the bus tours DCL was offering (or the price!!). In Cozumel we are going to Paradise Beach on our own by shared cab with another DIS Board "friend" and then we will head back to the downtown early to do some shopping.

I still need to figure out what we are going to do in Cabo and PV. There is not much for the littles and what is available is crazy expensive through DCL. I work in the travel industry, so I get much better rates on my own.

 

[MinnieCruzer]

.
It's great to have you onboard, Carla, Joe and Ethan. I'm sure you'll have a great time. I haven't cruised with little ones but Disney has some great looking programs. On a cruise on the Magic, the four-year-old at our table told his mom not to pick him up from the Oceanears club--just having too much fun! As for shore excursions there are pros and cons to both ways. I probably don't live too far from you--I'm in Gilroy. Looking forward to meeting you at the Meet and Greet.

Angie

 

[MunFam]

.
It's great to have you onboard, Carla, Joe and Ethan. I'm sure you'll have a great time. I haven't cruised with little ones but Disney has some great looking programs. On a cruise on the Magic, the four-year-old at our table told his mom not to pick him up from the Oceanears club--just having too much fun! As for shore excursions there are pros and cons to both ways. I probably don't live too far from you--I'm in Gilroy. Looking forward to meeting you at the Meet and Greet.

Angie

My best friend lives in Hollister! Her husband is a principal/teacher there and she is an L&D nurse at the large hospital.

 

[CarlaSB]

MunFam and Angie, Thanks for the welcome! Grew up in Orange County watching Disneyland fireworks out my bedroom window, and now live in the gold country foothills near Placerville.

MunFam, I appreciate your info about arranging our own excursions. Is there a way to private message in this forum software system? Would like to sign up for the Meet and Greet (love chocolate!) and the FE, but wasn't sure how to go about it. I also wanted to see what company you use for your Cartagena tour? Ethan loves waterparks, so read there is a waterpark in Cozumel I was planning to look into.

Angie, been to Gilroy many times. Lovely town!

Thanks for any advice provided.... been researching like mad to get caught up.

Carla

blog: www.carlabarrett.com

 

[wilma-bride]

Hi Carla, no need to sign up for the M&G, just turn up. It will be at 2pm, in either Diversions or Cadillac Lounge. I will update the information once we know for sure. Welcome aboard

 

[CarlaSB]

Thanks, Wilma, appreciate the info. Since I do not have private message capability as yet, will wait to sign up for the fish extender group.

 

[MinnieCruzer]

MunFam and Angie, Thanks for the welcome! Grew up in Orange County watching Disneyland fireworks out my bedroom window, and now live in the gold country foothills near Placerville.

MunFam, I appreciate your info about arranging our own excursions. Is there a way to private message in this forum software system? Would like to sign up for the Meet and Greet (love chocolate!) and the FE, but wasn't sure how to go about it. I also wanted to see what company you use for your Cartagena tour? Ethan loves waterparks, so read there is a waterpark in Cozumel I was planning to look into.

Angie, been to Gilroy many times. Lovely town!

Thanks for any advice provided.... been researching like mad to get caught up.

Carla

blog: www.carlabarrett.com[/QUOTE]

Hi Carla,

I too grew up in the OC, actually in Orange, watching Disney fireworks from our back yard!

 

[Cattennis]

Hi everyone,

My husband Rick and I just booked the Disney Wonder May 1 sailing out of Miami.

This is our second Disney Cruise. The last time was in 2004 and we had my parents, brother, his wife and 3 nieces. This time we are cruising by ourselves.

By the time the cruise leaves, we will be brand new retirees. Our last day of work is April 30.

Looking forward to the cruise and meeting everyone!

Cindy and Rick

 

[mom4fun]

You

Hi everyone,

My husband Rick and I just booked the Disney Wonder May 1 sailing out of Miami.

This is our second Disney Cruise. The last time was in 2004 and we had my parents, brother, his wife and 3 nieces. This time we are cruising by ourselves.

By the time the cruise leaves, we will be brand new retirees. Our last day of work is April 30.

Looking forward to the cruise and meeting everyone!

Cindy and Rick

Welcome! You will be in good company. Most of the people taking this cruise are just like you.

 

[wilma-bride]

Hi everyone,

My husband Rick and I just booked the Disney Wonder May 1 sailing out of Miami.

This is our second Disney Cruise. The last time was in 2004 and we had my parents, brother, his wife and 3 nieces. This time we are cruising by ourselves.

By the time the cruise leaves, we will be brand new retirees. Our last day of work is April 30.

Looking forward to the cruise and meeting everyone!

Cindy and Rick

to the group. My husband and I are travelling sans kids - we aren't retirees although I wish we were

 

[IamTinkerbell]

Welcome to our newbies. This is a fun active group with many things planned. Don't wait too long to sign up as cut off dates are rapidly approaching. My DH and I are new retirees. Traveling without children. Enjoy the planning. Hope to meet you soon.

 

[MinnieCruzer]

Hi Cindy and Rick,

Glad you made your way over to the Disboards. There's a bit more activity for this group over here!

Angie

 

[leesburg]

Since we arrive in Cozumel on a Sunday some of the beach resorts are closed. Any suggestions on where to go for a beach day??? I see that some list taxi prices as $15.00-is that one way??

 

[Cattennis]

Since there are 47 pages on this board, it there an easy way to find out what activities we might want to sign up for? I tried using the search box, but that didn't just search this board.

Never mind! I got lucky and found post #5!

But now I have another question. I am on FB, and would like to join the cruise FB page as well. I asked to join, but haven't been added and now can't find that page again.
What is the name of the page, please and how do I get added since I am still pending?
Thanks for the help!

 

[MunFam]

Since we arrive in Cozumel on a Sunday some of the beach resorts are closed. Any suggestions on where to go for a beach day??? I see that some list taxi prices as $15.00-is that one way??

Yes, that is the approximate fare for a one way.