December 4,2004 !!!

[lbgraves]

Yes, Kaitlyn's birthday was Saturday too. Busch Gardens was very wet with ALOT of strong showers but we wore the rain ponchos & had fun anyway...both days. DS did get pink eye, I think from swimming in the hotel pool the first night , but a quick trip to the urgent care & CVS took care of that as much as possible. This has been a hectic week with William staying home with me for a full day of eye drops on Tuesday, Kaitlyn missing PS Wednesday because her dr appt was delayed & the shots didn't get done until over an hour after we got ther , and her party here after school yesterday afternoon. I get to go work out at the Y for the first time in a week this morning!!! I want to be able to wear my swim suit on the cruise.

I will be finalizing our hotel plans this afternoon for the few days before the cruise. Not sure where we will stay Friday night at the port. Where is everyone else staying?

 

[NAT&MAGSMOM]

We have a home in Orlando(hopefully it will still be there in December). We drive down on Friday night, get up bright and early on Saturday, take the dog(dogs this year) to VIP Pet Hotel and then we are off to the Port. We go visit Shirley and Norm and then go to the ship. Sometimes Shirley takes us...sometimes we take our car and leave it at the Port.

After we board, find our cabin, have lunch, then I go in search of all of our CM friends we have met over the previous 5 trips.

That's pretty much our first day/afternoon.

Phyllis

 

[DISNEYFAMILYOFFOUR]

Well, what a rough couple of weeks for my family. My mother-in-law passed away last weekend after about a two-week illness. Needless to say, my husband, kids and in-laws (not to mention me) are taking it very, very hard.

Also, my brother's MIL has been hospitalized for six weeks and the news is not good there either (we are traveling with him and his family).

I have been away from these boards the last couple of weeks and are just catching up on all of the news. What a shame about Cayman Islands.

Sue Ellen from Dreams has been completely wonderful. She managed to get all of our priority seatings for our WDW stay after the cruise. She even got the Cindy ressie.

Lisa (LBgraves): How has your MIL been doing lately?

Hope all is well with everyone else. The trip is right around the corner.

 

[lbgraves]

I'm so sorry to hear about your MIL, Gloria. (((HUGS))) I know how hard that can be. Right now it doesn't look like my ILs will be going with us on the cruise. My MIL just started her 3rd round of chemo this week and that will take at LEAST 8 weeks. That would put her mid November. It has taken her 3 weeks to get clean after the chemo rounds the last 2 times so that would be cutting it very close. The added stress just wouldn't help her. She told me months ago to cancel for them but I didn't since we have insurance but now it doesn't look good. I am starting to get excited. We haven't looked into the ports yet but don't plan on doing very much or being off the ship much at all. Can't wait to be onboard & forget about EVERYTHING else!!!

 

[DISNEYFAMILYOFFOUR]

Lisa: Thank you for your sympathy and hugs. Things are a tiny bit better now that both my husband and I went back to work--it keeps your mind off it.

I hope your MIL is able to make the trip if that is what she wants. Last year we took my inlaws to Disney and I am so grateful that my MIL really got to enjoy it. We wanted to take them again in October 2005 and were going to surprise them at Christmas this year. It just was not meant to be.

Anyway, we are nearing the ten week mark.

I hope everyone is having fun with the last couple of months of planning.

 

[NAT&MAGSMOM]

Gloria...sorry about your MIL, keep on hangin' on...things will get better..

Lisa....maybe your MIL could just come and sit by the pools, get her a wheelchair..advise med crew of her condition and keep her comfortable.....she might just enjoy sitting and "people watching"

Things are pretty good here. We have been so worried about our ORL house and the people in Florida. Plus worrying about here too. Hilton Head is a barrier Island and if there is any thought of a hurricane coming this way...we have to evacuate. With ORL being in the path of the past storms, and having two dogs, and all the motels and hotels taken up already, there is no place for us to go. We'd have to drive all the way to Knoxville to a friends house and that is so far away. We'd be away from our jobs...I'd get paid...but Jim probably wouldn't. So, I can sympathize with all of these people in Florida. It's just so awful.

Hopefully, it's all over with now. I pray everyday that it is.

Well, on a happier note...we should be getting our docs any day now. They come out about the 60 day mark.

I need to run...I've been trying to get DD to get into the shower for 30 mins....can't get her to get in...can't get her out!!!!!!

Keep in touch
Phyllis

 

[lbgraves]

Phyllis, We do have a chair reserved to be at the terminal for MIL but if only they lived closer. We had only expected 2 rounds of chemo so that she would have a few months to recover. There is no way that she can make the 13 hour drive to the port now & they wont fly. She has had dysentary from the chemo since she started on it. I was praying that she would be able to go but under the circumstances, I have to accept that just isn't possible. Considering her condition & the fact that another tumor started growing 6 weeks after the other was removed with the surgery we are lucky that she is still here with us. Her brother just had surgery for stage one colon cancer. We are going on this cruise and will have a great time AND will rebook one for next year! There have been too many examples of life being too short for us to not take every opportunity now. I remember hearing family friends talking about what they would do when they retired. Several of them died before or right after that date. We are not going to put anything off for more than the year we need to book the cruise.

 

[lbgraves]

OK the excitement is starting here again! We got the new DVD player today & watched all of the DCL DVD. The kids were talking about everything they saw and DH & I were in a better mood after watching it too. Made the final payment for us yesterday so it is almost here!!!

 

[DISNEYFAMILYOFFOUR]

Making our final payment today. My brother's MIL died two days ago, so I am going to be making his too.

Phyllis: Thank you. I hope you and your Florida home are holding up well with the hurricanes. It must be very hard.

 

[wdw1972]

I've been away from the thread, and was sorry to see the challenges so many are facing. Hopefully looking forward to the cruise will help get you through the rough patches.

I live in SW Florida, and came through all of the hurricanes fine. Charley impacted us the greatest, but I had very minor damage (some screens, the outside lamp, etc) even though 3 buildings across the street were quite damaged (could see the insulation from outside, when the walls were blown away). We're all hoping the storms are done with Florida for this season.

I was booked on the 9/5 Wonder, but that was the weekend Frances was coming. I knew I needed to be at work, and was prepared to cancel & lose everything, but DCL came through and eventually offered a full refund for anyone who canceled. I won't be rebooking - just don't have the time, and I've recently become involved with someone who works 6 months and then is off 6 months - the incentive for rebooking ends right about the time he finishes his work season, so it just doesn't work for us.

This will likely be my last DCL cruise anyway - #7 I think. I've done it through DVC and frankly the increase in cost each year has gotten ridiculous, so I'll stick with my preferred cruise line and pay cash for my future cruises. I don't have young kids, so I can't see paying the premium Disney commands, especially when I actually find HAL a better fit for my lifestyle. So, I'll have to make this cruise a special one - my last meal at Palo, last chance to see any of the shows, etc!

 

[lbgraves]

We are a day away from the 60 day mark now!!! OK, my obsession has begun LOL! I am already looking into which cruise to book onboard. I talked to my MIL today and we have decided that it would be best for us to plan on them coming with us in 2005. Her chemo is just too much and when we talked about possibly taking a break for a month so that she could be "back to normal" and could enjoy herself, we thought about how that may actually put her in danger to be on the ship with her low white blood counts and all of the germs that tend to fester. We laughed that the rest of the family would never forgive us if something happened to her on "that Disney cruise you forced her to go on." LOL! A year from now treatment will hopefully be completed, she will be in remission or at least in a comfortable enough state to make the 13 hour drive to the port and be able to enjoy the Magic. In April she wasn't suppose to be with us at all at this point in her condition, so we will continue to have faith. She is still stubborn & fighting the cancer every step of the way, and she doesn't want us to miss out on our vacation that we have been planning. We have been praying for a miracle and the fact that she is still with us is one...and we will be greatful for what we have.

Disneyfamilyoffour, I am so sorry to hear of your brother's MIL. Your family has also had a very difficult year. I think that everyone in this group will really need this cruise to help relieve the stress the past year has placed on us all. (((HUG)))

 

[NAT&MAGSMOM]

Hi gang....

Anyone received docs yet????? I'm getting anxious.......

If anyone has late seating dinner and would like to join us, just
let me know. I'd need your name, res # and # in party. And then
DCL can fix it.


email me.....NATSMOM125@AOL.COM

One of my firefighters and his family are leaving on the 10-30 cruise....he emails or calls me every day he is working to remind me that he is going before me..... the dirty dog.....lol


Phyllis

 

[lbgraves]

ROFLMAO!!! Phyllis, a bit anxious? LOL! We are two months out here. We wont be seeing any docs for a while.

We have early seating but if anyone wants to link tables we are open to that.

 

[Jhalkias]

No Doc's here yet . . .

We are so busy right now that I can't even believe that we are going to be on a great vacation soon. We do currently have late seating for dining, but have asked to be wait-listed for early seating - we are a bit leary of late dining with a 4 year old.

I have no idea if we will get it - we did last time.

If anyone wants to link with us, you are more than welcome to, and we would enjoy the company if you would like to spend dinner with the two of us and a 4 year old daughter!

John

 

[lbgraves]

I went to add information just now and the website that I created is gone. I just get a sorry message at Ivillage. Not only that, but the other 2 family websites that I had kept up are gone as well. I have none of the emails that anyone sent me with information and honest just don't feel like taking the time required to set it up again. I don't really have that extra time right now. It shows up on a search of the site but the link still results in a sorry unavailable message, though other links to other pages listed come up without a problem. Sorry if this is coming across badly. I am pretty upset about this right now.

If anyone is interested in sending just their names & stateroom number so that we would be able to locate each other on the ship, I can make up a list & send it out to everyone.

 

[NAT&MAGSMOM]

All I know is that last year.....

My comupter was delivered on October 7th.....while I was looking at it after I got home from work...there was this little box....I said....."hmmmmm, this must be the mouse...can't believe they sent the mouse separately". DH was just sitting there looking at me with this dumb look on his face....which is nothing unusual...
anyway....I started to scoot the computer boxes out of the way and picked up the little box and noticed it said DISNEY CRUISE LINE on it!!! It was our docs and we cruised December 12th or 13th....and DH knew all along and didn't tell me.

So that's all I was going by....what happened last year. Guess since I'm looking for them...they'll never come!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anyone for late dinner???????????????????

Phyllis

 

[TChrist05]

Hello all....just a little update from us....I don't know if you remember us but we had a horrific house fire on July 4th....lost everything...our pets....our possessions and our home....we are still living in the hotel and probably will be until the first of the year.....have to say DCL did a great thing for us though....we were looking to change our phone number and address so the docs would come to us straight to the hotel...they asked some questions and wanted to know why they were being sent to the hotel....told them our sorry story and they sent us a great care package with a new cruise line bag, a couple of beach towels, and a few little trinkets...they really do things right. We booked the cruise in May and have a GTY reservation...curious when we will have a cabin number assigned and when the docs will come.....anyone have any idea about when they assign cabins on the GTY status?
Thanks all...looking to seeing you all on the 4th of December....

Tom & Marilou

 

[lbgraves]

Last year we got ours 2 or maybe 3 weeks before our cruise I think it was. I do remember that when Isabelle came thru I put them in with our important papers. LOL! If we had to evacuate I wanted to be able to go on the cruise without a hitch.

I think that I saw how nice DCL was to you on another thread Tom. So glad to see the spirit is still there! Looking forward to meeting all of you on the cruise!

 

[NAT&MAGSMOM]

Tom....WHO KNOWS WHEN THE DOCS WILL COME..... lol

I would think if you have a Res #....you could call DCL and ask, or go to the website and plug in your number and it should tell you..

Looking forward to meeting you and your family....along with
everyone else....and seeing Ann who I met on our last cruise....

Phyllis

 

[AnnMorin]

Well I confirmed with our cocoa beach hotel we are not staying there- no one can until at least January, so I spent the morning on priceline and got the sheraton safari for 62.00 including tax and fees, I really wanted to be closer to the port but it is so iffy down there. Why am I home you wonder and not at school. Well yesterday I found out if was my turn for pnuemonia !
I had a bad cough since sunday went to the doctor yesterday and he freaked. He says it is not the same on my son had a month ago, mine is bronchial. Anyhow he gave me a huge shot (in my butt that was an experience) zithromax and omnicef. I am actually feeling a bit better today and if I don't have a fever in the morning I will go back to school, there is a little girl in the Friday class that has real sepration issues and I finally got her to be able to do it, (she now just clings onto me not mom) I don't want to set her back.
I tell ya these are some powerful drugs, I wanted to loose some weight before the cruise just not all in one day
I am not sure if we are gonna be participating in any big get togethers this cruise as the guys really are looking for some family time, we shall see as it gets closer.