December 15, 2012 A Yo-HO-HO-HO Holiday Fantasy!

[NWmom]

Kevin.................DUDE...................whereyabeen!!!! Workin' huh??? So sorry to hear that. Oh.............that's a good thing...............ohok!!! Me too. But I'd rather be cruising with Disney!!! I guess that is really why I'm working - to pay for those wonderful cruises!!!

Hey good buddy....................no snow here yet!!! Had to rib ya some there. Can't remember the last time it snowed here in the ol' Sun Shine State. Wait a minute...................it snowd at Walt Disney World last year around the Christmas holidays!!!!! I got a million ofthem!!!!! Hey, ifn' you go out sking becareful. I hear that stuff is slippery!!!

Kevin won't be able to come out and play for a while, Work has him working a lot. 6 days a week. Even Black Friday plus the Saturday and Sunday next weekend.

Will be interesting if they decide to work them during what is usally the Christmas shutdown or not.

Good news is he earns extra vacation time when working overtime. Some weird calculation for how, but I'll take more vacation time in the bank for next year.

Waiting for airfare dates to open up to decide our before and after plans. We have family in Florida and I have a date with an authentic Cuban sandwich. It has been too long!

Skye

 

[davidls]

So Excited! Just booked our cruise this morning and can't wait! This will be our 4th Disney cruise but the first one on the Fantasy. Such a long wait but will be dreaming about it very happily.

Also would love to be added to the Fish Extender List

I would like to cnktruitt and family to the cruise!!! So glad you could join us. This is going to be soooooooo much fun counting down the days until we set sail!!! Again, welcome aboard!!!

 

[davidls]

Kevin won't be able to come out and play for a while, Work has him working a lot. 6 days a week. Even Black Friday plus the Saturday and Sunday next weekend.

Will be interesting if they decide to work them during what is usally the Christmas shutdown or not.

Good news is he earns extra vacation time when working overtime. Some weird calculation for how, but I'll take more vacation time in the bank for next year.

Waiting for airfare dates to open up to decide our before and after plans. We have family in Florida and I have a date with an authentic Cuban sandwich. It has been too long!

Skye

Aaawwwwwwwwwww, shucks!!! Well at least the whole family is going to have a bunch of time off next year for the cruise. Do you guys have any plans of visiting WDW while you are down here? I know you are doing a back2back on the Fantasy. (Got to say DW and I are jealous of ya'll for doing that back2back!!!) Sure do envy you guys for that!!!

 

[LuvEeyore]

ckntruittso glad you are joing us on our adventure.

How is everyone doing these day. NW's have snow. In this part of Virginia we are waking up to 27 and 29 degree weather then it might get to 70 in the afternoon. Still a few leaves on the trees but not many.

Thanksgiving will be a quiet day in my house. Early lunch with my brother and then I am working 3-11. Life at work usually starts to slow down about now gets really slow in Jan and Febuary and increases in the spring with peak in July-October. Any guesses where I work? Labor and Delivery.

I am wishing each of you a Happy Thanksgiving. What am I thankful for?
A new set of online friends who I hope to meet many of in Dec 2012

Happy Thanksgiving!!

 

[davidls]

ckntruittso glad you are joing us on our adventure.

How is everyone doing these day. NW's have snow. In this part of Virginia we are waking up to 27 and 29 degree weather then it might get to 70 in the afternoon. Still a few leaves on the trees but not many.

Thanksgiving will be a quiet day in my house. Early lunch with my brother and then I am working 3-11. Life at work usually starts to slow down about now gets really slow in Jan and Febuary and increases in the spring with peak in July-October. Any guesses where I work? Labor and Delivery.

I am wishing each of you a Happy Thanksgiving. What am I thankful for?
A new set of online friends who I hope to meet many of in Dec 2012

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Well LuvEeyore, here where DW and I live, last night it got down to a chilly 64 degrees and todays high is to be a brisk 85. It is suppose to be partly cloudy all day today. I looked for the ol' longjohn undies last night to help me get thru these chilly days - guess I'll have to keep looking. Sorry - just had to do that!!!!

We are going over to our son & daughter-in-laws for Thanksgiving this year. We had Thanksgiving dinner at our house last year. We will have Christmas dinner at our house this year. We alternate homes and holidays between the two homes each year.

Sorry to hear you have to work on Thanksgiving. But, those babies do come year round - don't they. DW and I too want to wish everyone a safe and Happy Thanksgiving.

PS - I am back to semi-retirement January 1, 2012!!!

 

[Happy Goofy]

We will be taking our 6th cruise this April to Hawaii and then we will be doing the NY Disney to Nassau this summer wiith our daughters and grandchildren. We live in Ct so it will save us on Airfare. Looking forward to trying out the Fantasy, night now we love the Magic and Wonder.

 

[taswira]

I believe I will always love the Magic and Wonder the most. As other longtime DCL cruisers have said many times, it always feels like home to step onto one of the classic ships. It's comfortable. Plus it's easy to get to know people aboard, whether CMs or other guests, because you see them so often around the ship.

I expect to be impressed by the Fantasy (and by the Dream in February) with her being "shiny and new" with all the "bells and whistles," and I expect to love the cruises. I don't expect the new ships to take the place of the classic ships in my heart, or to be able to close my eyes and still find my way around the ships (in theory), or to recognize every CM and half the guests. But since Port Canaveral is my home port (an hour's drive) and those are the ships DCL chooses to port here, I'll try to learn to love them also.

So bring on the Fantasy!

 

[NWmom]

Aaawwwwwwwwwww, shucks!!! Well at least the whole family is going to have a bunch of time off next year for the cruise. Do you guys have any plans of visiting WDW while you are down here? I know you are doing a back2back on the Fantasy. (Got to say DW and I are jealous of ya'll for doing that back2back!!!) Sure do envy you guys for that!!!

We are coming in a few days early just to make sure there are no weather issues that prevent us from boarding.

Once the cruise is over, hubby does not have to report back to work until Jan 2(plant shut down vacation). However, we also have a ds 18 as well that is not cruising. A lot depends on what and where he will be for school next year.

(At the time we booked, he was planning to do school too far away to come home- now- who knows? He is very undecided) We have no idea what college/cooking school ds18 will be in or when their break will be. Or will he be working and even have vacation time? He needs to make up his mind!!!!
Worst case scenario he can go early to relatives and we meet up.

Like those that prefer not to cruise with family, we prefer not to visit extended family on Christmas Day. There is major DRAMA from some of my relatives- thankfully hubby loves me anyway!

Dd would like to spend her birthday in the parks. So we might stay at WDW until just after dd's birthday on the 26th and then drive to family. Mom's birthday is the 30th and seeing her then is more important to her than Christmas.

We're open to post cruise ideas/suggestions to make it work.

 

[NWmom]

How is everyone doing these day. NW's have snow. In this part of Virginia we are waking up to 27 and 29 degree weather then it might get to 70 in the afternoon. Still a few leaves on the trees but not many.

Thanksgiving will be a quiet day in my house. Early lunch with my brother and then I am working 3-11. Life at work usually starts to slow down about now gets really slow in Jan and Febuary and increases in the spring with peak in July-October. Any guesses where I work? Labor and Delivery.

I am wishing each of you a Happy Thanksgiving. What am I thankful for?
A new set of online friends who I hope to meet many of in Dec 2012

Happy Thanksgiving!!

No snow here, NWDad had snow at work, but none at home. Now it's rain.
We're getting together with close friends.

Labor and Delivery is a great job. So much joy.

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!!

 

[davidls]

We will be taking our 6th cruise this April to Hawaii and then we will be doing the NY Disney to Nassau this summer wiith our daughters and grandchildren. We live in Ct so it will save us on Airfare. Looking forward to trying out the Fantasy, night now we love the Magic and Wonder.

That Disney cruise to Hawaii sounds like allot of fun. I know you guys will have a GREAT time. DW and I gave that a whole lot of thought, but then decided not to go. We plan to fly over to Hawaii - rent a condo and see Hawaii that way. That is down the road aways though. Not sure when as yet.

We did a back2back on the Dream this past September. It is one GRAND ship. DW and I had a wonderful time. We meet some great people on the DIS Board here and we linked up our ressies and had dinner each evening together. We even had the Palo Brunch together. We all had such a GREAT time together on the back2back cruise. DW and I are looking forward to seeing the differences between the Dream and the Fantasy.

 

[davidls]

I believe I will always love the Magic and Wonder the most. As other longtime DCL cruisers have said many times, it always feels like home to step onto one of the classic ships. It's comfortable. Plus it's easy to get to know people aboard, whether CMs or other guests, because you see them so often around the ship.

I expect to be impressed by the Fantasy (and by the Dream in February) with her being "shiny and new" with all the "bells and whistles," and I expect to love the cruises. I don't expect the new ships to take the place of the classic ships in my heart, or to be able to close my eyes and still find my way around the ships (in theory), or to recognize every CM and half the guests. But since Port Canaveral is my home port (an hour's drive) and those are the ships DCL chooses to port here, I'll try to learn to love them also.

So bring on the Fantasy!

DW and I feel the same as you Shari, about the Magic and Wonder. They will always hold a special place in our hearts. We loved our time on the Dream and I know we will have a blast on the Fantasy, but the Magic and the Wonder.........ahhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!

 

[davidls]

We are coming in a few days early just to make sure there are no weather issues that prevent us from boarding.

Once the cruise is over, hubby does not have to report back to work until Jan 2(plant shut down vacation). However, we also have a ds 18 as well that is not cruising. A lot depends on what and where he will be for school next year.

(At the time we booked, he was planning to do school too far away to come home- now- who knows? He is very undecided) We have no idea what college/cooking school ds18 will be in or when their break will be. Or will he be working and even have vacation time? He needs to make up his mind!!!!
Worst case scenario he can go early to relatives and we meet up.

Like those that prefer not to cruise with family, we prefer not to visit extended family on Christmas Day. There is major DRAMA from some of my relatives- thankfully hubby loves me anyway!

Dd would like to spend her birthday in the parks. So we might stay at WDW until just after dd's birthday on the 26th and then drive to family. Mom's birthday is the 30th and seeing her then is more important to her than Christmas.

We're open to post cruise ideas/suggestions to make it work.

Wow sounds like you have allot going on. DW and I live on the west coast of Florida - about 25 miles west of Tampa. We like to drive over to WDW and stay at one of the resorts there a couple of days before the cruise. That is just a little over half of our drive over to the port. Then on the day of the cruise, we eat breakfast at the resort and then drive over to the port. We stayed at Animal Kingdom Resort back in September for our back2back cruise on the Dream. We will probably do the same for this cruise.

Don't know if you guys are Harry Potter fans or not - but Universal has the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, and it is just down the road from WDW. Just a suggestion, you might want to check out. There are several dinner show venues in the Orlando area as well - if you like dinner shows. Just a couple of suggestions.

Hey don't get me started about DRAMA in the family - we have that as well. I think everyone does to an extent. I think ours is a little over the top though!!! DW and I have talked about getting up in the middle of the night and moving away...........far away!!!

 

[Happy Goofy]

We have a double wide manufactured home about 5 minutes from Port Canaveral. We are there from Christmas to around May. We love to go down on Sunday and see the ships leave. We usually go to Jetty Park and wave as the ship goes by. With the Wonder being now in California we have to fly out there for our Hawaiian cruise. Now that the Magic will be in NY we will join my daughters and grandchildren on a cruise from there. Sure saves us some money.
I am sure we will love the Fantasy once we get used to the set up. Looking forward to it.

 

[NWDAD]

As I am sitting here getting ready yo leave work until Friday, I want to wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving. Just one more Thanksgiving to go before the cruise.

Kevin

 

[davidls]

HAPPY THANKSGIVING everyone!!! Have a safe and enjoyable holiday with family and friends!

 

[davidls]

We have a double wide manufactured home about 5 minutes from Port Canaveral. We are there from Christmas to around May. We love to go down on Sunday and see the ships leave. We usually go to Jetty Park and wave as the ship goes by. With the Wonder being now in California we have to fly out there for our Hawaiian cruise. Now that the Magic will be in NY we will join my daughters and grandchildren on a cruise from there. Sure saves us some money.
I am sure we will love the Fantasy once we get used to the set up. Looking forward to it.

Happy Goofy, DW and I did a back2back on the Dream in September. We had no problems at all getting around the ship or finding anything we were wanting to see or find. Yes the ship is bigger then the Magic and Wonder but finding your way around is a breeze and fun. It seems everytime you turn a corner you find something new. We had a GREAT time on board the Dream. We knew that a 3 or 4 day cruise was not going to be long enough to see all we wanted to see and do on board. That is why we did the back2back. We are looking forward to see the differences between the Dream and the Fantasy.

 

[skiingwife]

I'm thining about switching from the 5 night Dream to this 7 night. Its not THAT much more for 2 more nights. I'm just wondering about excursions in San Juan. Has anyone been there or looked into excursions? What looks fun? I didn't see any on Disney's site yet. I know there is a rum factory tour, but are ther any nice beaches and activities? Thanks!

 

[davidls]

I'm thining about switching from the 5 night Dream to this 7 night. Its not THAT much more for 2 more nights. I'm just wondering about excursions in San Juan. Has anyone been there or looked into excursions? What looks fun? I didn't see any on Disney's site yet. I know there is a rum factory tour, but are ther any nice beaches and activities? Thanks!

We all hope you do switch to this cruise skiingwife, you and your family will have a great time with us all counting down the days until we set sail!!! Hope you decide to join us!

We haven't been to San Juan yet either, but we are really looking forward to it. Type in a search for San Juan, that will give you some info on San Jaun and some things to do and see. Old San Juan a walking tour looks interesting. DW and I enjoy the historical tours of all the islands. But I am sure there are lots of beaches to chose from. As we get closer to our sail date, I'm sure Disney will start putting up excursions on their website.

 

[cnktruitt]

Hello Everyone! I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. And fabulous Black Friday......Have to admit I love November for both those days

Can anyone suggest a hotel by the port? I'm looking for something clean, hopefully close to the water, a nice pool is a plus. Suite style is best as my hubby is flying in from Afganistan for this trip. Kids, ya know......

 

[skiingwife]

CNKTRUITT:

We stayed at the Radisson last year and at the Country Inn and Suites, just last month. A lot of people like the CIS because it is new and you get free continental breakfast and it's close to the port. We did like it. The pool and hottub were nice and the rooms were fairly new and clean. The Radisson is older but the pool is lovely and it has a slide and waterfall. I think I prefer the Radisson for the pool atmosphere and tiki bar. But I would stay at CIS again too. Can't go wrong with either. Go for whichever you can get the best price. Both are about 5 minutes to the port.