December 13, 2008 Western Caribbean!! Let's get acquainted!

[KATIESMOMMY]

oh my gosh, I just realized that we are closing in on the 120 day mark!! Means you return cruisers get to book palo etc, you will have to tell us all how it goes!!

 

[SILLYANDI]

I am so disorganized right now, I'm not sure I'm gonna have a "plan" by the 90 day mark.
What is everyone else planning to book (as far as what excursions, etc not exactly what day & time)?

We are planning:
Book through DCL
Palo Brunch with friends and dinner alone (probably have to book dinner on board?)
Exotic Rasul (the only thing DH has on his list!!)
Couple Massage at CC
Parasailing at CC with DD10
Hairbraiding for DD's (on board of course)

On our own
Key West-Visiting with In laws who live there
Cozumel- Booked Dolphin Discovery
Grand Cayman-Probably Native Way 1/2 day (not sure yet?) OOH and visit Margaritaville there!

 

[PenskeSth1]

We are going to try and do Palo's on Sunday night when we leave Key West..That is when we did it last time.

Hopefully we can get in a brunch....We have not done this and it sounds nice.

Also in Key West we plan on the butterfly farm and trying some key lime pie..(this is one of our least favorite ports). We don't plan on doing to much more.

In Grand Cayman we hope to
Go to Hell so we can say we have been there.
We will shop and sample all the rum cakes again...MMMM

We are going to try and get to the turtle farm too. Some friends told us it was really neat.
We did go to a beach there last time and rented Jet ski's but I don't know if we will do that again. (DS whacked his mouth on the handle bars so now he isn't interseted in riding them anymore).

In Cozumel
We will head straight to paradise beach and hang out for the day. We will probably go shopping a little before we get back on the ship.

At C.C

DH will parasail
DH,DD, and I will do the banana boat ride
DS will most likely just swim and hang out at the kids club area.

We aren't the big excursion family as we like to move at our own pace. We just need to watch the clock and make sure we are back to the ship on time.

 

[Stinasmom]

Us "return cruisers" actually get to book at 90 days... I think people in the suites get 105 days, then new cruisers book at 75 days.
So, although we have a bit more time to think... looks like we are:

Palo dinner... Oh, Sunday night sounds perfect (copying Michele)! You can't book Palo too late in the week because you are soooooo full of good food by then that you just don't enjoy it as much.
Palo Brunch on the 18th... OK, I just contradicted my last statement, but brunch happens on sea days, and I don't want back to back Palo meals!!

Exotic Rasual... yep, haven't done it yet, but DH... he's curious about the "naughty mud love" room!!

Grand Cayman - Snorkeling and stingray something...

Castaway Cay - Eco-tour with the jet skis with my DD11. DH & DS7 Bottom fishing. Oh, and just relaxing at the Adult beach...

Hoping to fit in martini, tequilla, wine tastings!

We haven't been to Studio Sea as a family before, so hoping to catch one of the game show type activities. Secretly hoping we can get DD11 to do karaoke... one of the Disney Princess songs she's had memorized since age 4!

Other than that, I LOVE the Quiet Cove Pool and the foo foo drinks delivered chaise-side. Will try to lap the ship a few times at a slow jog... Try to stay awake for the Pirate night fireworks... we have a Starboard side balcony on purpose, incase we just barely can keep our eyes open...

Oh, that was fun! I loved thinking about exactly what we hope to do onboard!!

 

[cripps626]

can't wait for the Elemis Aroma Stone Therapy Massage - 75 minutes of pure RELAXATION!
being that this is our first cruise with DS22months, we'll probably do a lot of beach day activities, nothing too outrageous. the turtle farm sounds fun. we did palo last time for brunch and weren't all that overwhelmed by it but it was a nice break from the routine once you've been through the dining cycle...
what's the best way to book flounder's reef time for DS? do i have to plan it out hour by hour in advance or is it somewhat flexible finding availability once onboard? are there peak times that book early for flounders reef?

 

[SILLYANDI]

what's the best way to book flounder's reef time for DS? do i have to plan it out hour by hour in advance or is it somewhat flexible finding availability once onboard? are there peak times that book early for flounders reef?

You do have to book by the hour, minimum of 2 hours at a time (you can pick them up after only 1 hour but you still get charged for the 2nd). I think you can book up to 6 hour blocks at a time, but can only book like 20 hours total for the whole cruise online (you can add or delete hours once you get onboard). They can't exceed 10 hours a day though (really, people drop their kids off for THAT long?!)
I booked our Palo time, rasul & all that then booked Flounders around our "events" for our 1st cruise. Once we got on board our plans changed a few times and they were really great about accomodating us. We called down and cancelled a day, added a few days & even dropped her off early with no problems. They do ask that you give them at least a days notice, but I know that the day we dropped her off early we had called an hour before.

 

[PenskeSth1]

We haven't been to Studio Sea as a family before, so hoping to catch one of the game show type activities. Secretly hoping we can get DD11 to do karaoke... one of the Disney Princess songs she's had memorized since age 4!

DD and DS played the Mickey Mania game in studio Sea and won. I was surprised at how much DD new about Disney. It was fun to watch!

DH and DD also did the Art of Entertaining in Studio Sea (A chef prepared a soup and they had a wine). I came in at the end and they still brought me a glass of wine and a bowl of soup. It was very very good.

DH and I are planning on doing a few more things alone on this trip as we are celebrating our 20th anniversary. I would like to take a peak into Cove Cafe' and DH and I never even ventured over to the adult only pool.. DH wants to do the Know your mate game too! I don't even know if they still do that. I am pretty shy and don't know if I could bring myself to get up in front of a bunch of strangers anyway.

I forgot about Pirate Night! DH and I outlasted the kids on that one... We had a ball.

ohhh Now I am all excited again!

 

[cripps626]

You do have to book by the hour, minimum of 2 hours at a time (you can pick them up after only 1 hour but you still get charged for the 2nd). I think you can book up to 6 hour blocks at a time, but can only book like 20 hours total for the whole cruise online (you can add or delete hours once you get onboard). They can't exceed 10 hours a day though (really, people drop their kids off for THAT long?!)
I booked our Palo time, rasul & all that then booked Flounders around our "events" for our 1st cruise. Once we got on board our plans changed a few times and they were really great about accomodating us. We called down and cancelled a day, added a few days & even dropped her off early with no problems. They do ask that you give them at least a days notice, but I know that the day we dropped her off early we had called an hour before.

thanks for the info on flounder's reef, i'd better start getting organized so that i know what days i need to make reservations...has anyone heard if this TS Fay will have any impact on the magic repo or wonder cruises this week?

 

[SILLYANDI]

We spent the weekend at our riverhouse in AZ and I am all thrilled again too! I think I have my general plan laid out. Now it's just wait and see until the 14th!
I sure hope they don't change the dining rotations again before Dec because that will really mess up my plans.

Me and DD did Walk the PLank in Studio Sea and had a blast (we were winning all the way until the last round and lost everything!).
I definitely want to get some alone time and martini tasting in this time. All the kids will be old enough to go to the clubs so I hope we will get to do adult stuff.

 

[PenskeSth1]

Well today was the first day of school for our kids. Part of me was excited they are going back and another part of me wasn't so thrilled. Go figure with tropical storm Fay Moving in our kids are now off Tuesday and Wednesday. This means they will probably have just 3 days off for Thanksgiving. I know we have to have precautions but none of the other counties are taking two days and they are RIGHT ON THE COAST. I am guessing it is so they can have the shelters for folks coming from the coastal areas, that is if the evacuate.

 

[SILLYANDI]

Well today was the first day of school for our kids. Part of me was excited they are going back and another part of me wasn't so thrilled. Go figure with tropical storm Fay Moving in our kids are now off Tuesday and Wednesday. This means they will probably have just 3 days off for Thanksgiving. I know we have to have precautions but none of the other counties are taking two days and they are RIGHT ON THE COAST. I am guessing it is so they can have the shelters for folks coming from the coastal areas, that is if the evacuate.

My in laws are in Ft Meyers and they are bored out of their minds confined to their house right now, I guess everything is shut down including work & stores. I called to check on them and SIL said "Well if you're worried that we might die of boredom then you might be right!"

 

[PenskeSth1]

Everyone must be busy lately we were on page 3! SO I am bumping us up.

We are getting closer to the double digits so I have begun my mad magnet designing! LOL Not that I am creative in any way. I have combed thru hundreds of pages of those design pages looking for some ideas. It helps keep me busy as I am a SAHM.

Hope everyone is having a good weekend.

 

[PenskeSth1]

Bumping

 

[cripps626]

it was sure fun seeing the Magic pass through the canal today, DH and I are really getting excited for 12/12 to roll around!

 

[SILLYANDI]

Weird...I posted a few days ago and it never showed up!
Anyway, we are all paid off and ready to book ressies. Sept 14th can't get here soon enough...

 

[PenskeSth1]

I missed seeing the Magic go through the canal..I forgot

The closer it gets to us being able to book excursions and such the more excited we seem to get. Even though we are only going to try and book Palo and a couple things at C.C.

It is nice when you know you are paid in full? We paid ours off back In Dec. and I know it was nice not having to worry about that payment.

Andrea are you near L.A or San Diego? We are planning a trip to California next Dec and plan on going to Lego land in San Diego and then to Disney Land. I was just wondering how far apart these two cities are.

 

[SILLYANDI]

It's about 2-2.5 hours from one to the other (I live 15 minutes north of DL, it takes me about 2 hours to get to Legoland).
Legoland is a one day place so I'd stay closer to DL. Although, the area around Legoland is MUCH more vacation like (beaches and relaxed attitudes). We LOVE Legoland, but it is definately a younger kid place. (DD10 is a little bored when we go). Andrea

 

[PenskeSth1]

Andrea,
Thank you for the information. DS is 10 and is a lego junkie, he has a plastic tote that is full and weighs in at 87lbs. We figured just going for one day would be good. Isn't there a zoo up around there also? Is Sea World out there too? We are most likely going to try and go through AAA for flights and hotel near legoland and such, but will use DVC points to stay at one of DL hotels.

We plan on spending more days up around DL so that we can be the normal tourist and hit Rodeo drive and hollywood. DD 19 is a Harrison Ford freak and wants a picture of his STAR!

 

[wdwpirates]

I am a real late comer here!!! We booked a couple months ago...can't wait to get on the ship!!!

 

[SILLYANDI]

Welcome Kerri! Luckily we aren't so active so you don't have too much to catch up on!