December 12 - 19, 2009 Western Magic

[Shelebeen]

Is there a little more info about the FE thing? I want to understand it before I say SURE! it sounds intriguing...

 

[Scooby3x1y]

Hi momtomari! I had also thought about the EBTA next April but I was hesitant about the 2 weeks out of school. Our district is very persnickety (msp?) about missed days, and our principal is not very flexible or understanding...so there is no way I could take my DD out of school for 15 days. You are very lucky that your school will support your doing it. I absolutely don't think there will be anything going on in your DD's class the week before Christmas. Last year in 1st grade it was all about parties in my DD's class and teachers just trying to make it through the day! The kids were literally bouncing off the walls!

We cruised over our spring break this year and it was honestly nice not to have to worry about absences. But we got lucky on that trip and snagged a cat 12. It wasn't as cheap as this December cruise, but nonetheless, it was a great deal for being Easter week.

We did the Eastern itinerary over spring break, which I loved! DH and I have been to the Western ports before, but DD has only been to Grand Cayman not KWF or Cozumel. We went on a land-based vacation to Grand Cayman a couple years ago and it was fabulous! The turtle farm is a lot of fun We also liked going to Stingray City out of Rum Point. I'd like to hear more about those excursions you mentioned in the other ports.

I would just love to see DCL over the holidays. We've done WDW a couple times in mid-December and it's a magical place at that time of year so I'd like to see how DCL celebrates. I just can't bring myself to pay what they charge for the actual week of Christmas...

I think I'm going to put down our deposit for this cruise and then mull it over for a couple months. I was able to grab a cat 12 so I don't want to take the chance of losing it. I think the PIF date is near the end of September, which will give me some time to get to know DD's teacher and how I think she will be about our missing the time. I may also ask a couple teachers who are friends of mine what they think about that in 2nd grade. I'm sure I am over-analyzing the situation but that is my nature to do that - LOL!

Hope it works out for all of us!

I'm sure it will be fine. Two things that helped when our kids missed almost two full weeks. One, we made up a complete curriculum for where we were going. We did a full week in FL before our first cruise. Most of it was created by teachers and homeschoolers in FL who were taking field trips to these places (ie, St. Augustine, Fort Castillo De San Marcos, Chaccoben ruins/Tulum, etc). Anyway, I showed their teachers the things they would be learning. BTW...there were age appropriate lessons. One teacher said great, another teacher said great but you have to bring back this math packet done, another said great, but you must keep a journal and share a 5 min. speech about what you did while you were gone.

Now, I'm sure you can imagine, the principal was not too happy with us either. lol, I had to laugh at his face when he started to harrass me and I told him that my mother was dying and it was the last trip my kids would have with her. At this point, one of two things can happen. One, the teachers were willing to count that as them being there, or...I could call them in sick for that time. I know if the law "No Child Left Behind" act, the principals and districts cannot have them miss more than a certain number of days of school. In this instance I didn't care. My kids are not sick too much, and them missing a week to build those memories, and family time was well worth it.

I'm sure you'll make the right decision for your family.... Just remember, we're a fun group!

 

[itutorfortravel]

I'm sure it will be fine. Two things that helped when our kids missed almost two full weeks. One, we made up a complete curriculum for where we were going. We did a full week in FL before our first cruise. Most of it was created by teachers and homeschoolers in FL who were taking field trips to these places (ie, St. Augustine, Fort Castillo De San Marcos, Chaccoben ruins/Tulum, etc). Anyway, I showed their teachers the things they would be learning. BTW...there were age appropriate lessons. One teacher said great, another teacher said great but you have to bring back this math packet done, another said great, but you must keep a journal and share a 5 min. speech about what you did while you were gone.

Now, I'm sure you can imagine, the principal was not too happy with us either. lol, I had to laugh at his face when he started to harrass me and I told him that my mother was dying and it was the last trip my kids would have with her. At this point, one of two things can happen. One, the teachers were willing to count that as them being there, or...I could call them in sick for that time. I know if the law "No Child Left Behind" act, the principals and districts cannot have them miss more than a certain number of days of school. In this instance I didn't care. My kids are not sick too much, and them missing a week to build those memories, and family time was well worth it.

I'm sure you'll make the right decision for your family.... Just remember, we're a fun group!

Yea, this DISgroup sounds like a fun bunch! Hopefully it will work out for us to go. I did put down my deposit, so I have time to think it over, get to know the personality of DD's teacher and how she may feel about it, feel out the new administration at our school this year, etc. I simply love WDW at the holidays and can't imagine not loving DCL every bit as much

 

[Floridasunshine]

Hope everyone is doing well. Just sold my house (after three contracts fell through) and close in 3 weeks which is great but I don't know where I am moving to. Packing, looking at homes, etc. I will keep logging in as time permits. I am just thrilled my home sold given the market at the moment. I am not sure if I am using the private message site correctly as I attempted to post a response today to a private message - just let me know if you got my response. Trying to condense and get rid of stuff is more difficult than I thought. I went to a Disney outlet store last week in Orlando and they have Mimmie Mouse Christmas headbands with Holly on - and yes I did pick some up. Working on the FE gifts and made sure I did not pack any of that great stuff. I am so thrilled this is a holiday cruise. My daughter picked up a great dress for the formal night dinner. Here is to the next several months going by quickly.

Karen

 

[itutorfortravel]

Hope everyone is doing well. Just sold my house (after three contracts fell through) and close in 3 weeks which is great but I don't know where I am moving to. Packing, looking at homes, etc. I will keep logging in as time permits. I am just thrilled my home sold given the market at the moment. I am not sure if I am using the private message site correctly as I attempted to post a response today to a private message - just let me know if you got my response. Trying to condense and get rid of stuff is more difficult than I thought. I went to a Disney outlet store last week in Orlando and they have Mimmie Mouse Christmas headbands with Holly on - and yes I did pick some up. Working on the FE gifts and made sure I did not pack any of that great stuff. I am so thrilled this is a holiday cruise. My daughter picked up a great dress for the formal night dinner. Here is to the next several months going by quickly.

Karen

Congratulations on the sale of your house! You're right, given today's market, it is a true cause for celebration Hope you find another home you like and get settled quickly.

The Minnie Mouse headbands sound adorable! I was at the Orlando outlet in June and got the cutest DCL Santa Mickey hats - the only thing denoting a year was a little charm attached to the pom pom, and I can just cut that off...

I am trying to figure out something easy to pack and inexpensive to use as a Christmas tree in the cabin. Anyone have any ideas?

 

[Shelebeen]

Congratulations on the sale of your house! You're right, given today's market, it is a true cause for celebration Hope you find another home you like and get settled quickly.

The Minnie Mouse headbands sound adorable! I was at the Orlando outlet in June and got the cutest DCL Santa Mickey hats - the only thing denoting a year was a little charm attached to the pom pom, and I can just cut that off...

I am trying to figure out something easy to pack and inexpensive to use as a Christmas tree in the cabin. Anyone have any ideas?

a couple of years ago, we were in Maui for Christmas and we picked up this little folding Christmas tree - about 2 feet in height from Kmart or Walmart there ... it was like 1 dollar or something.... we put a few little decorations on it and sure enough Santa found it to leave his gifts there!

 

[Scooby3x1y]

Karen,

Congratulations! I hope the move goes smoothly for you!

 

[Marcy Mouse]

Hi all!

We are booked for this cruise too. My DH (37) and I (35) snag one of those great cat 12 rates. By reading through the threads, I see that quite a few of us got this great rate. I see upgrades in the future. We are only two so I'm not worried if we don't get one. My DH prefers and inside room.

Also, friends of our tentatively booked this cruise. They won't know until August if they are going for sure. I hope they can make it!

Looking forward to speaking with and meeting with many of you!

Marcy

 

[Scooby3x1y]

Hi all!

We are booked for this cruise too. My DH (37) and I (35) snag one of those great cat 12 rates. By reading through the threads, I see that quite a few of us got this great rate. I see upgrades in the future. We are only two so I'm not worried if we don't get one. My DH prefers and inside room.

Also, friends of our tentatively booked this cruise. They won't know until August if they are going for sure. I hope they can make it!

Looking forward to speaking with and meeting with many of you!

Marcy

Welcome Marcy! We're excited to have you among us! Let us know if you would like to participate in our fish extender gift exchange!

 

[pamrob]

Hi all!

We are booked for this cruise too. My DH (37) and I (35) snag one of those great cat 12 rates. By reading through the threads, I see that quite a few of us got this great rate. I see upgrades in the future. We are only two so I'm not worried if we don't get one. My DH prefers and inside room.

Also, friends of our tentatively booked this cruise. They won't know until August if they are going for sure. I hope they can make it!

Looking forward to speaking with and meeting with many of you!

Marcy

I am getting very excited about our Dec. cruise. Glad to see our group growing. I would love an upgrade but highly doubt it will happen for us with two connecting cabins. However, if offered one I would probably do a couple of cartwheels!

 

[itutorfortravel]

Hi Marcy! Welcome to the group

Well, I added a countdown to my signature so we're moving closer to a committment. It's booked, just trying to work on DH and get him "on board" so to speak. He's a little uncomfortable with our cruising 2 times in one year - what will the neighbors think?! Ha ha...but for the price we paid for this cruise, we couldn't do a beach trip to Myrtle Beach, so I think we are great travel shoppers! Well, in all fairness there is another issue, which is DD missing an entire week of school to go, and that has me a little nervous too. I need to talk to a couple of my schoolteacher friends who teach her age group to see what they think. Hopefully they will be honest with me and not just tell me what I want to hear, though I hope their honest response IS what I want to hear...LOL...

Just curious if anyone knows many people are signed up so far for the FE? We didn't do it on our first cruise but might be interested this time. The group on our last dis meet sure seemed to have fun with it. Just not sure I'll have enough "real estate" in my luggage to carry much more than my clothes But for now please count us in tentatively...it would be me, DH, and DD7. Anyone else have girls in the same age range cruising during this week?

Glad to see some activity on this thread again. Hoping to meet all of you in a few months!

 

[pamrob]

Hi Marcy! Welcome to the group



Just curious if anyone knows many people are signed up so far for the FE? We didn't do it on our first cruise but might be interested this time. The group on our last dis meet sure seemed to have fun with it. Just not sure I'll have enough "real estate" in my luggage to carry much more than my clothes But for now please count us in tentatively...it would be me, DH, and DD7. Anyone else have girls in the same age range cruising during this week?

Glad to see some activity on this thread again. Hoping to meet all of you in a few months!

My youngest daughter is 6. Does your daughter usually participate in the kids programs?

 

[itutorfortravel]

My youngest daughter is 6. Does your daughter usually participate in the kids programs?

Yes, she went to the club alot on our first cruise! Our DD was not sure about the kids' club before we went which made me a little nervous. I was hoping to have some time with DH! But once onboard, it was all we could do to get her out of there! she loved it! have you cruised with disney before and do you think your DD will like the club? i am really hoping this cruise works out for us because the next time we could possibly go would be after DD turns 8 and then she would be in the oceaneer's lab instead of club. the lab is cool, but DD really liked the oceaneer's club, and i liked it that she was at the top end of the age range for her group vs. the younger end of the next group. so i'd love for her to cruise again with the oceaneer's club as her assignment.

do your kids know you booked on this cruise? we have not told DD yet and will probably keep it a secret for awhile. our DD loved the cruise in April so much that she really has very little interest in WDW anymore. that is kind of making me sad, because i love WDW, but i have to agree that the cruise is great!

it would be great if our girls could play together in the club! is your DD going into 1st grade next year? ours will be entering 2nd grade.

 

[pamrob]

Yes, she went to the club alot on our first cruise! Our DD was not sure about the kids' club before we went which made me a little nervous. I was hoping to have some time with DH! But once onboard, it was all we could do to get her out of there! she loved it! have you cruised with disney before and do you think your DD will like the club? i am really hoping this cruise works out for us because the next time we could possibly go would be after DD turns 8 and then she would be in the oceaneer's lab instead of club. the lab is cool, but DD really liked the oceaneer's club, and i liked it that she was at the top end of the age range for her group vs. the younger end of the next group. so i'd love for her to cruise again with the oceaneer's club as her assignment.

do your kids know you booked on this cruise? we have not told DD yet and will probably keep it a secret for awhile. our DD loved the cruise in April so much that she really has very little interest in WDW anymore. that is kind of making me sad, because i love WDW, but i have to agree that the cruise is great!

it would be great if our girls could play together in the club! is your DD going into 1st grade next year? ours will be entering 2nd grade.

My 6 year old was too young on our last cruise to go into the kid programs (we were on RC). My other girls LOVED the kid programs. I suspect she will love them as well. She is pretty outgoing and loves to play. She is going into first grade She would love to have a friend in the club.

My girls do know about the cruise and are very excited about it.

 

[Scooby3x1y]

Hi, I had a request to join the Yahoo group. Do we know who this is? ezraellekromero@yahoo.com

Thanks,

Lori

 

[bevtoy]

Lori if they don't post here in this group don't let them in the private group.
I have had requests from several people but they refused to ID them selves and they don't post here so I didn't Ok them because I dont want them to have access to our private information.

Hi, I had a request to join the Yahoo group. Do we know who this is? ezraellekromero@yahoo.com

Thanks,

Lori

 

[itutorfortravel]

what is the yahoo group?

 

[itutorfortravel]

Hello all...I was looking forward to meeting this group, you all seem like a fun bunch, but I just transferred our ressie to Christmas week. New Cat 12 pricing came out that made it too hard to pass up! Now I don't have to worry about taking DD out of school either, so I am so excited to not have that stress, and even more excited that we'll be spending Christmas day on Castaway Cay!

Hope you all have a great time on this cruise

 

[Scooby3x1y]

Lori if they don't post here in this group don't let them in the private group.
I have had requests from several people but they refused to ID them selves and they don't post here so I didn't Ok them because I dont want them to have access to our private information.

Bev,

Thanks, that's what I thought. I hadn't seen anyone new on the boards wanting to join.

 

[Scooby3x1y]

Hello all...I was looking forward to meeting this group, you all seem like a fun bunch, but I just transferred our ressie to Christmas week. New Cat 12 pricing came out that made it too hard to pass up! Now I don't have to worry about taking DD out of school either, so I am so excited to not have that stress, and even more excited that we'll be spending Christmas day on Castaway Cay!

Hope you all have a great time on this cruise

Were the prices the same?