December 11, 2004 Eastern cruise thread

[jwann]

Our family LOVES Christmas! I don't know if they will do anything special in the club/lab. The navigators on ***************** have an Eastern kids navigator from Dec. last year. There are no special activities listed BUT there ARE some on the adult navigators -- gingerbread house building, reading "Twas the Night Before Christmas", etc.

I think we are going to decorate right after Thanksgiving at our house!! Are you guys going to have your Christmas shopping BEFORE the cruise??? Yikes!! I better start now!

edit: sorry about the **** business. of course I typed in inkognitto's web site. pm me if you don't have it.

 

[momto2dkids]

Yes, I have Barb's website. It is saved in my favorites. I have looked at the navigator's, but I don't think I've really noticed which month they were from. I willl go back and look more closely later today. Thank you for that hint. I went to her site last night to look at transportation from MCO to the port. I also like Dave's site.

I haven't even thought about Christmas shopping yet. Double YIKES! I guess I should get my rear in gear and start doing some, since I won't have that one week. My DH and I will probably do a little shopping in ports, try to find little stocking stuffers for the kids that will remind them of the islands and thus extend the whole cruise experience for all of us!!

 

[cruisenewbie2004]

Why can't people post the URL of other Disney sites on these boards? I notice all this ****** business. Why is that? It isn't like these boards are ownded by Disney. It seems rather childish.


What times does the boat for Dec 11 actually sail (what time do you have to be on board?). Some of our travel companions had the idea to drive 12 hours the same day of the departure. I think that is INSANE!

 

[momto2dkids]

cruisenewbie2004-
I will try to answer your question, if I'm wrong someone can correct me. I believe the reason for the ****** is that this site is operated by Dreams Unlimited, a TA. Sometimes they block out the URL's of other sites that might be considered competitors in the TA business. Barb, AKA inkognitto, recently started her own TA business, so DU no longer allows her URL to be posted on these boards, though I believe she still is one of the Moderator's for the boards.

I believe the ship sets sail around 5pm. So I believe everyone would need to be on board around 4-4:30pm or so. I don't think I would ever consider driving that long( or anywhere near that long) the same day as departure. To many things could happen that could delay you and cause you to miss the ship. Too risky for me.

Hope this helps!

 

[momto2dkids]

cruisenewbie2004-
I will try to answer your question, if I'm wrong someone can correct me. I believe the reason for the ****** is that this site is operated by Dreams Unlimited, a TA. Sometimes they block out the URL's of other sites that might be considered competitors in the TA business. Barb, AKA inkognitto, recently started her own TA business, so DU no longer allows her URL to be posted on these boards, though I believe she still is one of the Moderator's for the boards.

I believe the ship sets sail around 5pm. So I believe everyone would need to be on board around 4-4:30pm or so. I don't think I would ever consider driving that long( or anywhere near that long) the same day as departure. To many things could happen that could delay you and cause you to miss the ship. Too risky for me.

Hope this helps!

 

[cruisenewbie2004]

I understand now.

Yes, it does seem rather crazy to try to drive from SC to FL same day. I told them any number of possibilities could occur. There could be traffic, or car problems, they could get lost, or simply oversleep. I told them the ship waits for no one. We'll see. We plan to stay in the Radisson and simply have breakfast and take the 10:30am shuttle over and have a relaxed time. Not interested in arriving exhausted, hot and frazzled!

 

[cruisenewbie2004]

I just tried to book the shuttle for our December cruise and they told me to call back in November! Is that normal?

 

[momto2dkids]

I JUST got off the phone with Radisson and they made my shuttle reservation for the five of us for 10am on the 11th. Do you already have your reservation at the Radisson? If so, I would call them back and try to talk to someone else.

 

[momto2dkids]

cruisenewbie2004-

I was just reading a Navigator from the 5/15/04 eastern cruise and it states that all passengers must be aboard by 3:45pm. The Mandatory Life Boat drill is at 4pm and "ALL GUESTS MUST ATTEND".

Hope your friends reconsider driving down the same day. It would be so sad if they missed the ship.

 

[cruisenewbie2004]

I called back and got all ten of us on the 10:30am shuttle!!!!

thanks! I guess it pays to try again!

 

[SQUIGGLE]

cruisenewbie & momto2dkids - we'll be staying at the Rad too. Feel fee to tell your friends we live about 1-3/4 hr south and won't take a chance and drive up the same day. I-95 is too unpredictable.

We're in the 120's!!

fran

 

[RebeccaLovesDisney]

Hello Everyone! I've been busy and travelling for quite a while and haven't been on regularly at all. It's great to see that we have some more disers added to our cruise! I am sorry to read that Bonnie won't be joining us.

We finally made our flight reservations so now everything seems more "real". We'll be at WDW for a few days both before and after the cruise, 2 weeks total.

momto2dkids - Did I read correctly that your DD will be 10 on the cruise? (I read thru all the posts pretty fast and could have misread.) My DD will also be 10! We cruised last December and I don't remember any real Christmas or Holiday activities in the kids clubs. There were family activities though, like lighting the trees - both on the ship and on CC, gingerbread house making, and Mrs. Claus made an appearance one night.

We'll be in the double digits before we know it!!

 

[jwann]

BUMP to the first page --

My kids started school yesterday (1st and 4th grade). Just one more milestone closer to the cruise!

 

[Disneyfan37]

Yes,one more mile stone down!They don't start here in Gator town till Tuesday.I am so ready for this cruise.

Maria

 

[Villaness]

Question?? Has anyone who has cruised Disney traveled to the port from MCO using a van/limo service or did you take the Disney bus?

We have signed up to take the bus, but would save a $100 by taking a van. We are staying at the Hyatt at the airport, so could travel on either. I worry that a van might not be reliable one direction or the other. I don't want to get stranded at either end.

Thanks, Kathy

 

[Villaness]

Question?? Has anyone who has cruised Disney traveled to the port from MCO using a van/limo service or did you take the Disney bus?

We have signed up to take the bus, but would save a $100 by taking a van. We are staying at the Hyatt at the airport, so could travel on either. I worry that a van might not be reliable one direction or the other. I don't want to get stranded at either end.

Thanks, Kathy

 

[SQUIGGLE]

Maria - Hope everyone is OK. did you have any problems with the storm?

cruisennewbie - hope your friends will think again about driving down the same day.

fran

 

[Disneyfan37]

Hi Fran!We are okay!We really didn't get anything but rain on and off from both Bonnie and Charley.We were very lucky.We talked to my dh's parents as well as other family and friends who are in Sarasota,and they had some wind and rain.We all were pretty lucky considering all that has happened here in FL with Hurricane Charley.Thank you so much for asking!

I don't recommend anyone coming from out of state to get to port on same day either as one never knows.

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Maria and Charlie

 

[momto2dkids]

RebeccaLovesDisney-

Sorry I didn't respond to your email earlier, was out of town for a family reunion. Yes, my DD will still be ten when we cruise. She starts 5th grade on Monday, last year of elementary school- I can't believe time has passed so fast.

 

[Ratt45]

I just wanted to bump us to stay on the first page. As DW mentioned, we came out of this last storm ok. About a half inch of rain, that's all. Less than 3 weeks from being in double digits!!!!