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

[fairyduster]

We'll be there at 3pm! Hey, if we're all rushing to get Andrea her first drink, she might never get her "sea legs"! She's done all this planning, lets make sure she remembers at least some of the trip!

 

[KerriL]

Hi all!
So excited!! Just booked today!!
Please add us to your roster. I have to catch up and read though 62 pages of posts!!
We are Kerri(me)41, Richard(DH) 49, Nicholas(DS)19, Jordan(DD)17 & Lilly(DD)7.
Kerri

 

[Stinasmom]

Glad you're joining us KerriL and family!
Last minute booking means you haven't had to rap tap tap your fingers for the last 22 months waiting for this cruise like some of us! Smart!
Hope you got a good deal. We noticed this cruise is far from sold out. I noticed this isn't your first DCL vacation either.

I added you to the very first page's roster.

Can't wait to meet you all soon!

Marcy

 

[KerriL]

Glad you're joining us KerriL and family!
Last minute booking means you haven't had to rap tap tap your fingers for the last 22 months waiting for this cruise like some of us! Smart!
Hope you got a good deal. We noticed this cruise is far from sold out. I noticed this isn't your first DCL vacation either.

I added you to the very first page's roster.

Can't wait to meet you all soon!

Marcy

Thanks for the welcome! No, we have not had to rap tap tap our fingers for the last 22 months for this reservation But we did it for a cruise that we had booked for October and had to cancel...booked that in June of 2007. My daughter made nationals for her dance competition in July so we could not swing 2 trips in one year. But I got a great travel agent rate just today. So, we are going!! Thanks for adding us to the list.
Kerri

 

[PenskeSth1]

Welcome Kerri!

Lucinda...Well at least I "Thought" it was easy to shop for the kids and women. It would probably be easy just to get all the adults a bottle of liquor!

 

[Stinasmom]

Kerri--
that's great about your DDs dance... I understand about having to plan around such things...
my DD is missing Nutcracker for this cruise, and this is the first year she is on pointe...
She is not upset at all because she plans on dancing for years to come and knows Nutcracker will come up again but DCL may not
So glad your TA was able to get you onto our cruise.
Actually, in January 2007, I had our TA try to book us on the Eastbound Panama Canal (repo) cruise for 8/08, but it sold out in 2 hours.... and even though she got us on it, DCL's computers spit us out and she couldn't get us back in. I am a firm believer that things work out the way they are suppose to! This cruise although being half the time of a repo cruise was also more than half the price at a time when we really couldn't afford more.

Maybe your dancer DD could give mine a little advice from her experiences?

Marcy
P.S. BTW.. . we are the same age

 

[KATIESMOMMY]

HI and WELCOME Kerri!!

I will be hitting the same age as you and Kerri 3 days after the boat docks to bring us home Marcy!

Michele- LOL@ the alcohol. Lets just say a 'few' of us have thought of that too!

30 days till we board the Magic!

 

[KC-Disney]

Welcome KerriL

I just joined a few weeks ago, i wish I'd have found it sooner. We went to see madagascar 2 last evening, it was great I want to move it, move it. We also watched Tinkerbell this week as well, the boys even loved it.

I was just looking at our Disney pictures from our first trip in January. i can't believe how addicted i have become.

I am also now pricing out the Europe capitals cruise for July/10.

Thanks for the ideas Andrea for the FE gifts, i am almost done my shopping, just those men yet.

I agree the alcohol sounds like it will be flowing.

Karen

 

[KerriL]

Karen- Well better late than never!! Welcome to you too. I have always found the boards to be a plethora of info...even though I am a TA that specializes in Disney destinations!! Sometimes the "official" info gets on here first before my Disney rep can even get it to me

KATIESMOMMY- Congrats on your upcoming b'day...thought I was going to flip when I hit 40 But what are ya gonna do?? The only alternative to aging is....death!!!

Marcy-Well, for years Jordan studied just ballet and did the companies annual production of Coppelia around Christmas time, so we tried to avoid vacations around December. She only missed 1 performance in 1999..we went to WDW of course! A few years ago she wanted to study other forms of dance-lyrical, modern and jazz and recently hip-hip and tap. She started going to a dance studio that a friend of mine owns. Very different environment from the ballet company. I honestly don't care for all the recitals, costumes, competitions = money!! But she loves it so we do it!! She goes to college next fall and hopes to dance there.
Ballet gave her a great foundation and she still takes ballet technique and pointe classes, just not at the dance company.
She competes at various dance competitions during the year. She was in her first last fall and qualified for the nationals in Orlando in July. We had to cancel our October cruise..could not afford 2 weeks at WDW and the cruise.

But luckily, I was able to get my agent rate for this cruise. They just opened up special rates for military and travel agent appreciation.
I can't believe what happened to your Panama cruise...I have never heard of that happening. But so glad that it all worked out for you in the end. Our older kids were not even coming on the October cruise, but now they are coming and we are paying less for all 5 of us than it would have been for just the 3 of us.
PenskeSth1-Thanks for the welcome..glad to be joining all of you guys.

Kerri

 

[friendw/boys]

Hi all!
So excited!! Just booked today!!
Please add us to your roster. I have to catch up and read though 62 pages of posts!!
We are Kerri(me)41, Richard(DH) 49, Nicholas(DS)19, Jordan(DD)17 & Lilly(DD)7.
Kerri

Welcome Kerri and family .

I can't believe we hit the 1 month mark. I am starting to stress out. Since this is our first week long cruise I am a bit overwhelmed with everything . Andrea says I am over thinking every thing but I suppose that's what I do . My DH is finally getting excited (where has he been the last 20 months??) so that's good news. Have a great day everyone!!!

 

[KATIESMOMMY]

I totally understand you Mandy. I am stressing to. I am sure we will have a great time and everything will be fine! Plus, you have Andrea to blame if it doesn't!

 

[KC-Disney]

I can't seem to think about anything else lately but this trip. I am nervous, excited, you name it. Is there any must haves to pack for the trip from those experienced cruisers. I put the suitcases out. As well Andrea do you have the link or let me know where you found the navigators.

Anyways better get back to work.

Karen

 

[friendw/boys]

I totally understand you Mandy. I am stressing to. I am sure we will have a great time and everything will be fine! Plus, you have Andrea to blame if it doesn't!

Lucinda, I like the way you think. My theory is I stress now with all the planning so I can really relax during the cruise or I can just blame Andrea .

 

[cripps626]

howdy y'all -
it's been several weeks since my last posting.
i just didn't feel like i had enough stress in my life getting ready for the cruise so i decided to try to buy a house and sell my house at the same time!!! it gets better, if it all works out we'll close escrow ten days after we get home from florida, what a brilliant idea!!
i'll be easy to spot on the magic, i'll be the one carrying around legal size stacks of escrow documents with my drink of the day!
hope everyone is having fun preparing for our big adventure.
tootles-

 

[debm]

Hi. We will be on this cruise---it was sort of a last minute thing for us. We will have 2 Cat 11 rooms side by side because that was all that was left. However they are the ones that are "sideways". Has anyone ever sailed in those? How is the room layed out? I'm trying to figure it out.

Also I am looking for a friend for my daughter who is 10. Her older brother usually sails with us and this is the first trip that he won't be along. Anyone else have a semi-shy daughter that you want to introduce?

We are excited! Some of you have been planning for years---I don'thave long to pull this together! Debi

 

[KerriL]

Welcome debm!! We are new to this thread too, only booked yesterday
Kerri

 

[Stinasmom]

Welcome Debi and family!
I have a DD11... about to be 12 and Andrea has a DD10... My DD had a couple friends from these meets boards on our last cruise and it really made the difference! If you want to email her, PM me...
Also, we'll be at the meet at 3:00pm day one Prom. Lounge and can introduce them all.
Karen--
As far as packing lists/ideas, here is a link to the most extensive list I have ever seen! It is an excel document!
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=935094&highlight=packing+list
I remember really appreciating that we brought the over the door shoe hanger with clear pockets for all that small stuff, toiletries, etc as there is so little counter space, and when the ship is rocking, things tend to fall on the floor! Also, the power strip is a must for plugging in all the recharge cords. Quarters for laundry, dryer sheets, maybe even a couple small boxes of laundry detergent (the individual use size) although the do sell them onboard. Some $$ (ones) for tipping room service, and a journal to write down the memories as they happen.

A link to somewhat recent Navigators is:
http://www.wdwinfo.com/wdwinfo/cruise-new/cr-stateroom-navigator.htm
For other last minute planning and tips, definitely check out the "sticky" on the first page of cruiseline forum threads that reads "DIS DCL FAQ...."

Marcy

 

[friendw/boys]

Hi Debm,

Sommer, you must be going out of your mind. Are you staying in Pasadena? Good luck with everything.

 

[debm]

Thank you all for the warm welcome. I will have to catch up on this board when I have a chance tonight. I'm a bit behind y'all in the packing though!

 

[KATIESMOMMY]

Hello and welcome Deb!

Good to see you back Sommer! We bought our house in April, we were so stressed out. You will need another vacation AFTER you close!

Mandy- Andrea is gonna kill us talking that it will be all her fault. We can just blame my DH if you want, he said I do it for everything else! lol