December 4,2004 !!!

[lbgraves]

Phyllis, so sorry that you have had such a rough month. (((HUGS))) Glad that things are improving for you now. I did a mad scramble yesterday to contact MIL's doctor's office & find out if she is fit for travel right now. I finally found an insurance company that will cover cancer as a preexisting condition!!! Travelguard was it out of 7 places that I called.

 

[TChrist05]

Hello all....just returned home yesterday from the May 8th sailing of the Magic and 3 days in the World....but we booked onboard for the December 4th sailing...so my DW and I will be with you guys....have not really read the whole thread through...but I will this week....but had a great cruise with great weather...looking forward to the December 4th!

Hope to meet you all.....

Tom

 

[NAT&MAGSMOM]

Tom....WELCOME....

Looking forward to meeting you and your wife. Is you town in NY close to NYC????

Our crusing group will be me, Phyllis; DH Jim; two Pre-Teenage
Drama Queens...dd Natalie and her BFF Nicky, both age 11.

It will be our 6th DCL cruise or if we can wing it before then, maybe our 7th!!!!! We want to do a 3-4 day cruise because we need the time away from all the stuff we've been going through(see my previous post) but we also want to come to NYC to see our friends, Paige Davis(from Trading Spaces) and her dh Patrick, who we met on our last cruise....both are preforming on Broadway and we are trying to figure out how to do all of this.

OH well, the dd pre teen age drama queen and I are off to Wal Mart and Home Depot....we've already deposited the other one at her Dad's for the weekend!!!!!!!!!!!

Check in when you get a chance.
Phyllis

 

[NAT&MAGSMOM]

Hi Lisa...

You got this insurance for you MIL just in case she has a problem on the ship?? Or did you get it for the whole family??

I've never gotten any ins before...but we are...at the moment bringing Natalie's friend, Nicky. Should I get some kind of ins on her, Nicky, just in case they decide not to be BFF(that's best friends forever in teen talk..I'm getting savvy on all of this slang they use...lol)..I've told both of them that December is a longgggg way away....but they seem determined.....what do you think I should do?????

Things are somewhat better here....I'm still in a brace..but dh
does have his new car...and there are only 4 more days of school.....THANK THE gODS......

Keep in touch
Phyllis

 

[AnnMorin]

Hi All, sorry I have not been on in ages, I have checked in from time to time but I have been quite ill, thankfully I had my last treatment on Friday and hopefully things will be looking up for me. Anyhow, as it stands we are still on for December but I am having a very hard time getting excited. It seems like this group has been cursed

 

[lbgraves]

Phyllis, we took out trip insurance for our last cruise & this one as well. You just never know with two little kids. They could get sick from anything & that would be too much money to be out, so the extra 88 for us was worth it. The kids are free with many programs. I took it out for my inlaws since after 60 days out you lose money if you cancel. The odds are just too great that my MIL wont be alive for the cruise and we wouldn't have gotten the stateroom without the insurance. We have almost doubled our cost for the trip with them going now...but it will be so worth it!!! This definantly takes away the stress of throwing away 2000 because she wasn't able to be there with us.

Anne, I don't think that anyone is cursed. We have just been challenged & will enjoy the cruise all the more because of it. MIL had another cscan done 2 weeks ago & there is another growth near her spine where they removed the last one. She also has a lymphnode on her aeorta, which isn't good either. We have to face that she has stage 4 cancer & it is aggressive. It isn't going to be easy.

 

[AnnMorin]

It was very difficult to explain to Mike that my cancer was worse then expected, I personally felt cursed...

 

[lbgraves]

Ann, I'm so sorry! I only meant to be peppy, like I have to try to do here while we are trying to deal with everything. I had a feeling that you were referring to cancer and I am so sorry that you are going thru that. I have missed you on the boards. I can only speak from a loved one's point of view since I have not experienced it personally, but chemo can be a curse to alot of people. I know that MIL needs to get fluids the afternoon after her 2 days of it because she gets so sick. The first week she was admitted with dehydration.

We are having to adjust our lives quite a bit and put off opportunities. DH was offered a promotion but it would be a move for us and we just don't want to be in the middle of that or a house closing and have to drop everything to attend a funeral and the stress that goes along with that. The offer is open and maybe next year will be better for us. We are going on this cruise one way or the other, however. We have already told family not to contact us on the ship if something happens if they aren't able to come with us. There is nothing we could do & we will need the relaxation to help us thru everything. I don't want the kids remembering the cruise as when GM died & not enjoy themselves.

 

[NAT&MAGSMOM]

ANN....send me an email or pm and let me know what's going on.....

Phyllis

 

[Jhalkias]

Just tried to book this cruise today with DVC, and they told me that DCL reservations will be down until 6/1/04

Hopefully, we will be able to book.

Funny that you're on this one too Rae, as we cruised together last fall - If you remember, I got you the WL totem pole for your friend!

Once we do get booked, I'll try and read this enormous post from the beginning - wish us luck!

John

 

[lbgraves]

Good luck with getting thru to DCL!!! Hope that you can join us. Unfortunantly, Rae wont be sailing with us this cruise. She had to cancel the reservation.

 

[AnnMorin]

I had been so bummed about even the thought of a trip since I had been so ill, but all my tests came back excllent today,, I am cancer free, yipee!!! I know that there is a chance it can come back but clear is good enough for me! so now I can start to plan for life again folks,, didn't we mention a wine tasting ???

 

[lbgraves]

That is such wonderful news, Ann!!!!!!! Mary told me about it tonight in chat so I had to come check the thread. You must feel so much better right now. Celebrate & enjoy!!!

The news isn't so good here. MIL wants to cancel the cruise for them but since we already paid for insurance I don't see the need for that at this point. She had started the second round of chemo when she called so I know that makes her more depressed. We can talk about it later on. There are cancer cells in her blood vessels though & the doctor wont even give her a prognosis. He just said that they will eventually attach to the wall, multiply, and block it. We are just dealing wtih each ay as it comes for now.

Yes, we talked about having a wine & cheese DIS meet. I think there was talk of brunch at Palo too.

 

[Jhalkias]

Well, I got through to DCL with DVC finally, and we will be cruising with all of you. Cabin 7012.
Myself
DW
and DD - 4

DS - 17 has to stay home on this one because it is his senior year, and he does not want to miss a week of school.

Can't wait!

 

[lbgraves]

That is a great room!!!! We stayed in 7010 last November. We liked it so much that we rebooked in room 7503 in the other hall.

 

[lbgraves]

I know that I don't have information for everyone & the post is buried for the ones who have just joined us. I have a website set up for the cruise. Send me the following info & I will send you the site and password.

Name of all in family & kid's ages at time of cruise
Location
Deck/Stateroom number
Any special occasion being celebrated?
Dinner seating
Email
DIS user name
A picture of those cruising if you want to.

You can email me at mandlgraves@earthlink.net.

 

[lbgraves]

Just wondering how many of us are going to be wearing matching Mickey outfits on Tropical night. I just got us the light blue set from online & I know that Gloria picked up the darker blue ones from the store. Anyone else???

 

[Jhalkias]

Thanks for the information on cabin 7012!

This is the FIRST time cruising WITHOUT a veranda (better discount through DVC on CAT 8) and DW is a bit skeptical if she will like it or not. With the amount of points needed rising all the time, I thought we should give it a try, and see how much we miss having that easy outside access.

 

[lbgraves]

LMK if you would like me to send you a picture of 7010. I wish that we could have gotten it again, but booked a cat 10 & hoping for another upgrade.

 

[Jhalkias]

That would be great! Please send us a photo.

John