Dec 5, 2009 -- now traveling to Tortola

[mrstbalt]

IF so, how are you going to surprise them?


The cruise is not a surprise. We will be flying in the day before and
have to pick them up at school...in a limo to the airport (that's a surprise)!
They don't know we are staying at WDW for 2 nights
It's so hard to keep that secret. Mine don't believe in Santa anymore
so this will be there Xmas gift..WDW that is.
We really haven't thought about it much..with plays,cheer,bdays
and Halloween too busy right now. I can't wait!!

 

[wuv tigger]

but there are some families in their classes that are having a tough time financially.

I may break down before then though ...

anyone got any ideas on how to tell them???

I want to have the camera ready this time when we tell them.
AND I want the camera rolling when we drive up to the MAGIC on that Sat. Dec 4th.

 

[carmie3377]

Anyone else started packing?

I do plan on making 1 laundry trip on the cruise.

wuv tigger

Oh, I dread packing! I've got a few things stashed away such as new bathing suits, swim shoes, and other misc beachy items. As far as our clothes, I've got all of our dinner clothes together in the closet so all i need to do is put them in our garment bags. As far as day wear, well, we'll be wearing most of it up until them so I'll probably pack that stuff a couple of days before. If we had normal Dec weather down here in South Texas I could just go ahead and pack all of our day wear since it will be summery stuff. However, it's not unusual for us to wear shorts and short sleeves year round!

As much as I hate to do laundry on vacation, I guess I'll have to. The kids and I will be gone for 17 days and hubby for 13 days so I'll probably make a mid week laundry run on the cruise. We aren't staying DVC pre/post cruise (we're doing Pop instead) and I sure will miss those in room washer and dryers.

 

[carmie3377]

Mine don't believe in Santa anymore
so this will be there Xmas gift..WDW that is.

Well, DD10 doesn't believe in Santa but DS3 still does of course. We've been going to Disney yearly and we decided as a family to do the cruise as our annual Disney Trip. However, when we decided to add WDW before for 4 nights and after for 5 nights, that is their Christmas present. I talked to DD about it and asked her if she'd rather do WDW or have Christmas presents and she looked at me like I was crazy! Santa will still make a visit since DS still believes but I already informed DD that Santa wasn't spending much this year.

I think trips make great presents. Gifts usually end up in a closet a few months later only to be touched again when we move. They got a Wii last year and even it is collecting dust! This year, they will memories that last a lifetime

 

[amyngary]

I thought someone here mentioned a place to get custom T-shirts made. I am considering getting some custom T-shirts made for our family, but I have never done this before. Know any good places from which to order?

 

[Kathryn Rada]

Wow - you are on the ball. I thought I was an early packer, but I'm not starting for another week or two. I like leisurely putting items on our guest bed for a month or so before the trip.

Hey, speaking of packing, do you all know about packing cubes? I recently discovered them (thanks to the DISboards), and we LOVE them. I highly recommend trying them out.

I have never heard of them what are they?

 

[Tower]

I have never heard of packing cubes what are they?

I just did an internet search and came up with this link.
http://www.ebags.com/ebags/packing_cubes_3pc_set/product_detail/index.cfm?modelid=13032

http://www.tombihn.com/page/001/PROD/ACC/TB091

http://www.avon.com/1/1/5801-lightweight-travel-packing-cubes.html

The avon one looks cheap enough.

 

[catwoman25]

catwoman: does your charter allow children under 5? I noticed the pricing starts for children 6 and up, so does that mean my 4 year old could not go?

Thanks,
Amy

We have to swim about 50 yards to shore. There is dingy they said could be used to get to shore. You should contact Patouche and ask them your question. We had emailed back and forth a few times to get answers to our questions. They seem willing to help with what ever our needs are.
Cathy

 

[Hanover]

Tower-thanks for the links to the ebag site. I just bought the 4 of us different colored cubes for our duffle bags. I guess I'll be retiring our gallon size ziplocks and vacuum bags. It says I should receive them in 2 days and we'll be using them next week. DH will love it if it cuts down on our amount of luggage we use!

If anyone else orders, there are some coupon codes out there for ebags if you google them for $20 off $100; free shipping or $25 birthday codes. I did the birthday code since my shipping was $13 and you can only use one code.

 

[Tower]

Tower-thanks for the links to the ebag site. I just bought the 4 of us different colored cubes for our duffle bags. I guess I'll be retiring our gallon size ziplocks and vacuum bags. It says I should receive them in 2 days and we'll be using them next week. DH will love it if it cuts down on our amount of luggage we use!

No problem Hanover, but I'm still not sure what the all the hub-bub is about these bags. Are they just to separate items? For more compact packing?

Sorry, I'm lost on that. Aren't they just going to take up more room in an already packed bag?

 

[Hanover]

Originally Posted by amyngary
Wow - you are on the ball. I thought I was an early packer, but I'm not starting for another week or two. I like leisurely putting items on our guest bed for a month or so before the trip.

Hey, speaking of packing, do you all know about packing cubes? I recently discovered them (thanks to the DISboards), and we LOVE them. I highly recommend trying them out

Have you found any specific ways of folding/sorting to maximize their use? I usually roll our clothes before putting them in zip locks/vacuum bags. I read a lot of reviews on the cubes I bought and it said they cut down on wrinkles. Have you found that the case?

 

[Hanover]

No problem Hanover, but I'm still not sure what the all the hub-bub is about these bags. Are they just to separate items? For more compact packing?

Sorry, I'm lost on that. Aren't they just going to take up more room in an already packed bag?

For us they'll help with sorting and organizing. I'll be able to put clothes for the 4 of us for the 2 nights before the cruise in one cube and for the 2 days after the cruise in another cube so I know we can leave those in the rental car. Usually we take a whole small duffle bag to accomplish that. According to the product reviews, squishing the air out made them much more compact than ordinary packing and people said they could put clothes for 3 kids in one duffle bag with 3 cubes.

I'm hoping that we can just unzip them and put them right in the drawers onboard and we'll know what is what. It may also help TSA not go through our clothing so much. They could just unzip and look and zip back up.

 

[Tower]

I'm hoping that we can just unzip them and put them right in the drawers onboard and we'll know what is what. It may also help TSA not go through our clothing so much. They could just unzip and look and zip back up.

With that compact size, it will increase the density of the suitcase. Just be on the lookout for overweight bags as a result of the increased room.

 

[carmie3377]

With that compact size, it will increase the density of the suitcase. Just be on the lookout for overweight bags as a result of the increased room.

This is exactly what I've been thinking about. We've been near/at the limit a few times w/o using any method to compact our clothes. I think the idea is great for the smaller bags but I'd be hesitant to try it with the larger suitcases.

 

[Hanover]

This is exactly what I've been thinking about. We've been near/at the limit a few times w/o using any method to compact our clothes. I think the idea is great for the smaller bags but I'd be hesitant to try it with the larger suitcases.

My DH asked about the weight of the cubes before I ordered too and we did think about the extra weight/density with combining 2 bags---our bags are usually in the upper 20- mid 30 pound range and we always weigh them before we head to the airport. We stopped using big suitcases years ago because it seemed like we were always closer to 60 lbs with them. We like the rolling duffle bags we can easily fold down and put under the beds onboard and bring a hanging garment bag for our dinner clothes.

I was hoping to put FE stuff neatly in one of them too. Last year I had FE stuff in large ziplocks in a small duffle bag and they were all sorted and tagged for the cabins involved. TSA left a piece of paper saying they had searched the bag---they had a field day opening them up (it's not like they were colored and you couldn't see through the bag) and there were several whose items were all over the place in the bag and it took some time to figure out what went in what bag. Our cruise in August I tied ribbons tightly around the top of our FE bags and luckily they weren't opened and scattered about.

 

[carmie3377]

I was hoping to put FE stuff neatly in one of them too. Last year I had FE stuff in large ziplocks in a small duffle bag and they were all sorted and tagged for the cabins involved. TSA left a piece of paper saying they had searched the bag---they had a field day opening them up (it's not like they were colored and you couldn't see through the bag) and there were several whose items were all over the place in the bag and it took some time to figure out what went in what bag. Our cruise in August I tied ribbons tightly around the top of our FE bags and luckily they weren't opened and scattered about.

Ugh, I didn't think about TSA searching through my FE gifts. I was planning on tying colored curly ribbon on the top of the kids bags with little tags attached. I would hate for them to cut the bags open if they decided they need to be searched. Maybe I'll use one of my evenings at Pop before the cruise to get the bags together. We'll have a couple of "down" evenings so perhaps that is what I'll do.

 

[Hanover]

Ugh, I didn't think about TSA searching through my FE gifts. I was planning on tying colored curly ribbon on the top of the kids bags with little tags attached. I would hate for them to cut the bags open if they decided they need to be searched. Maybe I'll use one of my evenings at Pop before the cruise to get the bags together. We'll have a couple of "down" evenings so perhaps that is what I'll do.

It was the only time that I've ever had TSA open FE bags and sort through them like that. It was just frustrating to figure out who was missing what because I did a little "emergency cruise kit" and it listed the items and what they were for and I didn't want anyone missing any of them.I don't mind having stuff searched for security purposes, it was just the manner they left them all astray.

Speaking of FE's did we have a consensus on the cut off date and # of cabin participants? In the past FE's we have done, we have had FE's split into groups of 6-8 cabins--some were split with a couple decks each to make it easier on everyone with knowing exactly how many we would have maximum and easier delivery. I think most of us had groups of 8 with a couple groups having 6 or 7 cabins. That way we knew in advance and didn't have to bring 24 or 30 bags each. I'm okay with whatever the majority votes on, just wanted to voice our experience in the past.

 

[carmie3377]

It was the only time that I've ever had TSA open FE bags and sort through them like that. It was just frustrating to figure out who was missing what because I did a little "emergency cruise kit" and it listed the items and what they were for and I didn't want anyone missing any of them.I don't mind having stuff searched for security purposes, it was just the manner they left them all astray.

I agree with searches. I'm all for the searches too and taking shoes off, ect if that's what it takes to keep us safe. I remember reading an editorial in the paper once by a woman "humiliated" that she had to take her shoes off at the airport. As she put it, she was a first class passenger and they had no business treating her like that. Well, there were some "first class" passengers that changed this country forever.

 

[rowst3]

I quickly glanced through the forum and didn't see this addressed, but does anyone's kids have an food allergies? My dd's first grade class has a few kids with extreme peanut allergies. Just want to make sure none of the kids in the group have any peanut allergies before I buy some candy. This is the first year we ever had this issue and thought I'd ask.

Thanks! Rosemary

 

[mommyoftwinfants]

Sent out the final list, Please check your information to make sure I put it in correctly. Thanks.....