Dec 4, 2011 Dream

[Roadweaver]

I'm still diving into all of my FE stuff! Each day I take a few more things out and really look at it. It was all so overwhelming on the cruise to REALLY see everything!! I listened to my CD's yesterday while trimming the Christmas tree and it just made me remember all of the great memories. THANK YOU!! I still can't believe I didn't get to meet so many of you! That's my biggest regret! That, and it was way too short! We are planning on moving our dummy date to the Fantasy in 2013, probably in December again so if anyone else is interested...maybe I'll see ya real soon! Thanks again to everyone for all of their generosity!!

When in December are you planning your trip? I have a dummy cruise just sitting there, I could start working on my family to do another December cruise. it was fantastic.

 

[Rhode Island Quahog]

Some of us are thinking about the Fantasy on the Eastern route leaving 11/30/2013. It leaves the Saturday after Thanksgiving. I already changed our dummy booking to this date. The more the merrier!

When in December are you planning your trip? I have a dummy cruise just sitting there, I could start working on my family to do another December cruise. it was fantastic.

 

[Maddies Mama]

Man, I wish I could plan trips that far in advance!

 

[Rhode Island Quahog]

You can, and pay it off slowly like we do. Plus we do christmas in Disney every 2 years, so the magic doesn't wear off. Next year at Christmas, hopefully is a trip to Paris for us, another reason we planned so far ahead! Prices for this cruise are really low now!

Man, I wish I could plan trips that far in advance!

 

[tessasmom]

When in December are you planning your trip? I have a dummy cruise just sitting there, I could start working on my family to do another December cruise. it was fantastic.

Like RhodeIslandQuahog said, we are actually looking at the Nov 30, 2013 sailing to the eastern. Plenty of time to pay it off, but way to long to wait! I wish we could do Dec 2012, but I'm not seeing that happening. And yes, the more the merrier!!

 

[Maddies Mama]

You can, and pay it off slowly like we do. Plus we do christmas in Disney every 2 years, so the magic doesn't wear off. Next year at Christmas, hopefully is a trip to Paris for us, another reason we planned so far ahead! Prices for this cruise are really low now!

We can't book any trips that far out. We have no idea where we'll be living 2 years from now and there is never a guarantee that we'll even be stateside. It stinks, but I've gotten used to it. We tend to book most trips 6 months out....that's more of a safe zone, because if he were to get orders to deploy or move, we generally have at least 6 months notice, though with this last move we only had 3 months notice.

 

[Rhode Island Quahog]

I didn't realize...I'm sorry.

We can't book any trips that far out. We have no idea where we'll be living 2 years from now and there is never a guarantee that we'll even be stateside. It stinks, but I've gotten used to it. We tend to book most trips 6 months out....that's more of a safe zone, because if he were to get orders to deploy or move, we generally have at least 6 months notice, though with this last move we only had 3 months notice.

 

[Maddies Mama]

It's cool The first vacation that I ever planned after we got married was booked a year in advance and I did it as a surprise and told him afterward. DH about blew a gasket....I didn't realize he couldn't ask for leave that far in advance so there was no guarantee he could go nor did I think about the possibility that he could deploy or we could move overseas, making it a real hassle to either take or cancel that vacation (it was non-refundable & I'd already paid!). Thankfully it all worked out and I didn't make that mistake again I would LOVE to surprise him with going to Star Wars Weekends this year and I think I could pull it off if I went behind his back and asked his boss for the time off, but I'm afraid she'll spill the beans accidentally.

 

[cardidog]

Hi All! This is my first day back at work---I went on the 3 day after our 4 day and boy it was so much more crowded! I really enjoyed the inside virtual porthole cabin! I got sick walking around EPCOT in the rain---I purchased my very first WDW poncho and umbrella. Sigh. My husband picked me up from the airport and took me directly to the doctor. Oh well.

I thought I'd give the list of the secret mickey assignments in case anyone forgot to send a Thank You note---the kids had a closed loop of dibond 38 (Emily), tessasmom DD (Tessa) and tonydana (Stephen) which my husband---who made the assignemnts thought was a good idea---hopefully it all worked out

cardidog(Susan) gave to scothcbonnet DH (Reese) gave to roadweaver (Louise) gave to tessasmom (Julia) gave to Imanzd (Mandy) gave to rhode island quahog (Valerie) gave to sistert (TeAnte) gave to scotchbonnet (Jen) gave to dibond38 (Diana) gave to dvcdeernut (Laura) gave to dibond 38 DH (Steve) gave to dvcdeernut (Ian) gave to tessasmom DH (Sam) gave to eeyore77 (Jennifer) gave to prdaniel (Patricia) gave to cardidog (me;-)

I really enjoyed all of the FE gifts but boy the DREAM is waaaaaay tooooo big! I believe I really like the smaller Wonder and Magic. Sigh.

I am booked on a 5-night Dream cruise in March---I now also know I prefer the longer length cruises and Tom will finally go with me on the Fantasy next October on the Eastern for our 17th wedding anniversary. I didn't book any future cruises yet (those were booked last January on the Panama Canal cruise) and I'd really like to try a Christmas or New year's cruise---I loved all of the Christmas decorations. I was however, disappointed in the Magic Kingdom Christmas party---I think I like the Halloween party better.

I'm sorry I didn't get to meet you all---I was having a lot of fun playing---and winning bingo;-) most of the time---that is the one area I like to splurge on during the cruise.

 

[Karen89]

I wanted to thank everyone for all the wonderful FE gifts. We have so many creative and crafty people amongst us! My son LOVED coming back to the room to see what treats there were waiting for us. It got to the point that it's all he wanted to do. We were going to go on the AquaDuck and he said he wanted to "go back to the hotel" to check for treats! He also wanted to check after dinner each night, instead of going to the kids club, after a show, and just about every other spare moment. It was priceless. He especially loved the autograph book, as we had a new desire to catch ALL of the characters we could from that moment on. (great idea!) He loved the activity books/crayons, poppers, glow sticks, stickers, tattoos, etc. Mom loved the Texas chocolate (yum!), CD's, those blue pouches were so handy, antibacterial, as were many of the practical travel items. The hand made picture frame was wonderful, the toque - awesome, the ornaments (I love ornaments with memories attached!), the foam "Dream" visors were adorable (we have a picture of us wearing our new head gear), the printed pencils, DCL apron, ....... lots of great ideas, I could go on and on.


On an unrelated note.....I had a sea-sickness question for you all. I tend to suffer from sea-sickness something awful. Usually if there is only one person to get sick on a boat, it's me. (and has been many times) However I was careful in my room selection and chose not to have a floor that was very high and to be as close to the middle of the ship as I could. I did take Dramamine to help and I was very pleased (and shocked) that I didn't get sick at all. For those that did get sick...... were you on a high floor, or to the front or back of the ship? Did you take any sea-sickness medication?

 

[dvc deernut]

HI KAREN, ABOUT YOUR SEASICKNESS. THE WORST PLACE IS AT BOW OR AFT. WE WERE IN CABIN 8004 RIGHT AT THE BOW. GREAT CABIN, WE ARE AT BOW NEXT DEC TOO. THAT FIRST NIGHT WHEN THE WINDS WERE SO HIGH OUR CABIN WAS GOING UP AND DOWN A LOT. LAURA DOESNT USUALY GET SICK BUT SHE WAS VERY GREEN. THAT WAS OUR PALO NIGHT. WE MANAGED TO GET TO PALOS AND REBOOK. SHE FELT BETTER ONCE WE GOT TO THE CENTRE OF THE SHIP. WE WERE FINE WHEN WE WERE LYING IN BED. BUT TO WALK IN OUR CABIN WHEN YOU STEPPED THE FLOOR ALMOST DROPPED OUT FROM UNDER YOU WE WERE FINE AFTER FIRST NIGHT.

 

[Karen89]

HI KAREN, ABOUT YOUR SEASICKNESS. THE WORST PLACE IS AT BOW OR AFT. WE WERE IN CABIN 8004 RIGHT AT THE BOW. GREAT CABIN, WE ARE AT BOW NEXT DEC TOO. THAT FIRST NIGHT WHEN THE WINDS WERE SO HIGH OUR CABIN WAS GOING UP AND DOWN A LOT. LAURA DOESNT USUALY GET SICK BUT SHE WAS VERY GREEN. THAT WAS OUR PALO NIGHT. WE MANAGED TO GET TO PALOS AND REBOOK. SHE FELT BETTER ONCE WE GOT TO THE CENTRE OF THE SHIP. WE WERE FINE WHEN WE WERE LYING IN BED. BUT TO WALK IN OUR CABIN WHEN YOU STEPPED THE FLOOR ALMOST DROPPED OUT FROM UNDER YOU WE WERE FINE AFTER FIRST NIGHT.

Yikes! Sounds like a very rough night for you guys indeed! I remember there were a handful of us with rooms right in the bow and/or aft. I was curious how the others made out. Other than that, did you love being right up front? Honestly I would have booked deck 5 if they only had rooms in the middle. Then I was going to book deck 6, but my TA said that sometimes you can hear the club/theater/etc right under you. That's why I went with 7, I figured it was the lowest I could go where I could still get a room right in the middle. (I had only booked a few months before the cruise, so room choices were limited) I'm thinking of moving my dummy-date cruise to a date and an itinerary that I might actually want, so wanted to pick a good room once again. Looks like I'll be aiming for the middle once again. (just on the other side this time, so we can see the fireworks)

 

[BethC1952]

Yikes! Sounds like a very rough night for you guys indeed! I remember there were a handful of us with rooms right in the bow and/or aft. I was curious how the others made out. Other than that, did you love being right up front? Honestly I would have booked deck 5 if they only had rooms in the middle. Then I was going to book deck 6, but my TA said that sometimes you can hear the club/theater/etc right under you. That's why I went with 7, I figured it was the lowest I could go where I could still get a room right in the middle. (I had only booked a few months before the cruise, so room choices were limited) I'm thinking of moving my dummy-date cruise to a date and an itinerary that I might actually want, so wanted to pick a good room once again. Looks like I'll be aiming for the middle once again. (just on the other side this time, so we can see the fireworks)

We were in 9002 (about as far forward as you can get on Deck 9), and on that first night it was like a roller coaster! I get seasick in a bathtub, but seemed to be alright this trip. I used seabands (never took them off except to shower) and ate green apples. I don't seem to be affected by location on the ship. We've been just about everywhere, and had some really bad weather now and then, and location never seemed to be a factor. I did notice something interesting this trip. I had a slight head cold with some congestion. That seemed to help with the seasickness, because I think seasickness is a disconnect between your sense of balance and your sense of sight. Since my balance was affected by the cold, I think maybe the seasickness straightened me out! LOL!!!

In any case, we had an awesome time and are really thinking about cruising at the same time again next year.

Beth

 

[dvc deernut]

KAREN WE WOULD DO FROM CABINS IN A HEARTBEAT. IF YOU LIKE BIGGER CABINS AT LOWER CATERGORY 8004 or ITS EQUIVELANT WOULD BE A GOOD CHOICE IF YOU DONT MIND THE BOW. I THINK I MENTIONED WE ARE ON DECK 7 SAME TYPE OF CABIN NEXT DEC.

 

[TLinden16]

Sorry I didn't meet more of you on the cruise. I was disappointed to meet the DIS meet, but I really wanted to go to the DVC thing. Thanks to those of you who recognized me and said hello.

If you want to see the mirror image of Ian's stateroom, you can check out the video I took of my stateroom (8502):

http://youtu.be/LZdpzE4HpGw

Regarding the fish extender, I seperated my stuff into seperate bags for forward, midship, and aft before I left home. Since my stateroom was all the way forward, I delivered the forward stuff first), and then went back to my room to get the mid and aft stuff and delivered them by section. I walked approximately 1.5 miles to deliver my fish extender stuff this way.

As for my gift (mine was the one that included the blue neck wallets--my favorite thing to use in the parks to keep my tickets and money handy--and the Ariel magnets, amongst other things), I purchased those items at www.liquidationprice.com I got the neck wallets and magnets for 50 cents a piece. They also had Ariel window clings.

I booked a dummy cruise in the same stateroom for September 2013. I really want to do the Western cruise or I would consider moving it to the Nov. 30th date.

 

[TLinden16]

One more thing. If any of you are interested, I've been writing a trip report on my blog. The first four days are up:

http://jellyrollskaren.blogspot.com/