DISers stalking DISers...continuing our friendship!

[Disneyolic]

Sorry... I thought I included that info. I looked at Carnival for Oct 5-12, 2008. Go to www.carnival.com under Find a Cruise to price out different cruises. I have found some deals at www.vacationstogo.com and www.affordabletours.com as well, but you have to check as some charge full price for the kids.

See? The dates are off for us, even if we could go this Oct. Rob usually works on Saturdays but he can "weasel" it out if he tries. However, he absolutely has to work on a Friday then. I hate that most cruises leave on odd days and I don't want a 4-day cruise.

That is for 2 connecting rooms. We are a family of 5. So the suites were like riduculosly over priced, even the TA said it. And, hes the one who is suppose to making some money LOL...Ok, it might of been a little less then 5000$. Our cruise is 9 nights on the Gradeur, and right now its 999$ aperson. We have two rooms a 3 person room and a 2 person room connecting(Inside), The 3rd person rate is cheaper, I cant find my paperwork now, I will have to find it.

Plus we can only go in August...which IS HIGH travel season and much more money then going in Oct or later. Our cruise is Aug 21st for 9 nights leaving from Norfolk, VA

See if that works

I didn't realize there were cruises out of Norfolk. That could be a possibility, dates aside, as that is not an impossible drive...

 

[sunlver]

Are they charging full price for the kids? I know some quotes did, others didn't... but wasn't sure if it was the TA or cruise line. I had one quote for Disney cruise that was almost $7000, as opposed to $4500 from other agencies. Disney gives a 1/2 price discount for the kids, but I guess they were palnning to pocket the difference? Was it cheaper to go with 2 rooms instead of a larger room? Or did you just want the extra privacy and space? I hope your itenerary works out for you. Did you go with travel insurance? My brother and his family were supposed to cruise out of Miami last year when a hurricane hit. The cruise ship sailed out (day before the storm) but airports and roads were closed due to evacuations. They had the insurance, so they were able to reschedule. Of course, that is not much of a problem for you, since you are 45 minutes from the port!

Yes, they charge full price for kids,which isnt nice. Its only a discount if more then 2 person in the room(3rd and 4th person discount). We dont get the cruise insurance to the very end. My TA gave us a tip last yr. As long as you have a balance(but the balance has to be paid in a certain amt of days before leaveing, I just cant remember the exact amt)you can get the insurance a couple of months before leaving. We didnt use the TA's insurance. She said she knew there were cheaper ones out there and for me to look around. We did good with it because although we didnt need it for the cruise so to speak. We rented a car(we flew into Ft Lauderdale, and stayed over night and drove to Miami). On the rental car back, we left all our movie CD's in there ..When we called the rental car place they said nobody found them...Yeah right. They knew the car was now in Orlando...yet nobody who cleaned them found them...anyhow...it was covered under our trip insurance for the cruise. We insured our whole vacation the day before and the day after, it included everything..So we got money back for our cd's

 

[sunlver]

See? The dates are off for us, even if we could go this Oct. Rob usually works on Saturdays but he can "weasel" it out if he tries. However, he absolutely has to work on a Friday then. I hate that most cruises leave on odd days and I don't want a 4-day cruise.

I didn't realize there were cruises out of Norfolk. That could be a possibility, dates aside, as that is not an impossible drive...

Well they just built a brand new multi million dollar cruise terminal in Norfolk They have had a couple cruises every yr leave from here for the last 6 or 7 yrs. Now that the cruise terminal has been officially built, they are adding more cruises to them. RIght now there is not a whole huge selection. We are hoping the selection will be bigger in the yrs to come. It sure beats having to pay airfare to Florida LOL..

How far away are you from Norfolk?

 

[karibritt01]

No, no, no DM! You need to cruise with ME! And it is NEXT Oct, not this Oct! I would have to sell my eggs, or a kidney or something, to go this Oct! The DIsney cruise is Thurs-Thurs, so he would only miss 1 weekend. If we do tthis one, I am going to still try and sneak Sea World/ KSC into our trip. I'm just not telling Wynn... Seriously, we plan to skip shore excursions in Key West (make it a 'sea day')and Castaway Cay/ Cozumel (beach days) so that will cut down on a good bit of expense.

Jackie... mold? That is just gross! I hope that was just a fluke, and not the norm for Carnival. I will definitely be looking into reviews of different ships before booking. Also, I meant to comment that I like your particular ship you are sailing on. The Magic is about that size, and the RCCL ship I was quoted is almost TWICE the size. It is just too big, and too many people, for my comfort level. I think the mid-sized boats look much nicer.

 

[sunlver]

No, no, no DM! You need to cruise with ME! And it is NEXT Oct, not this Oct! I would have to sell my eggs, or a kidney or something, to go this Oct! The DIsney cruise is Thurs-Thurs, so he would only miss 1 weekend. If we do tthis one, I am going to still try and sneak Sea World/ KSC into our trip. I'm just not telling Wynn... Seriously, we plan to skip shore excursions in Key West (make it a 'sea day')and Castaway Cay/ Cozumel (beach days) so that will cut down on a good bit of expense.

Jackie... mold? That is just gross! I hope that was just a fluke, and not the norm for Carnival. I will definitely be looking into reviews of different ships before booking. Also, I meant to comment that I like your particular ship you are sailing on. The Magic is about that size, and the RCCL ship I was quoted is almost TWICE the size. It is just too big, and too many people, for my comfort level. I think the mid-sized boats look much nicer.

Yes I think it was a fluke. I didnt fault them really, I just think it did not get dried all the way,and was probably with other items that did not get dried. The Carnival Valor was HUGE...it tooks us day to figure out where everything was. Not that it was a bad thing, it was kind of neat exlporing and such.The Valor was filled to capacity when we sailed One of the camp counselors told me they had hundreds of kids on board. They werent all in the kids programs, but they get a list of every child on board. I cant remember the exact amt, but I was shocked to hear there was that many kids...The ship was so big, you saw kids, but nothing out of the ordinary.

You asked about the kids programs. They are really good. They split them into age groups. Elizabeth, was 7, at the time had the best time of all 3 kids in the programs. Faith was only newly 2 yr old. So we would put her in there. The first day she was so terribly excited she couldnt wait to go up there. At the 2-5 age, they give the parents a beeper or cell phone to carry with them. SO if they have to call you they can..Well from the 2nd day on, about an hour after Faith got there they would call us. She would start crying and nothing would calm her down. She has never been in daycare and not use to be left alone with strangers...so many nights she enjoyed the shows with us in the lounge.She loved the singing and all the pretty lights It got to a point where we would start up the hallway to the kids club, and she would be in tears I couldnt do that to her, so she just hung with us.
My son wanted to participate in things(he was 12)but there wasnt a whole lot of kids in his age group. Well there probably was a whole lot of kids his age on the ship, just didnt go to the kids group. So many evenings My son and Faith would hang with us, and Elizabeth was the only one who really enjoyed the kids program

 

[karibritt01]

My kids want to do the kids' clubs and plays on the Disney ship. I didn't like that RCCL was only in a couple hour segments for kids' club, verses all day for the Disney. Not saying I want my kids there all day... just that I think it would be nice to plan my schedule to fit me, not the kids' club hours. My kids are the type to want to go when certain activities are going on... then leave! I am really hoping to swing the Disney cruise, but I'll have to wait a while to see. We are really starting to feel the pressure to either add-on to the house or move... and moving is not really an option. Between rising housing costs, and poor home sales in our area, we just can't afford it. My home value has increased by $45,000 in 3 1/2 yrs. To get a comparable home and land, we would be looking about $75,000 more than what ours costs... mainly because our lot size (.78 acre) is no longer available in this area. I told Wynn I am willing to keep driving the Camaro if I can get a cruise, though! (Which is a total lie... but whatever it takes!)

 

[karibritt01]

CRAP!! Just realized my sitter will be here in 4 1/2 hours... and I have been on the computer instead of cleaning! You girls are a bad influence! I'll check in later!

 

[Disneyolic]

How far away are you from Norfolk?

It's still about a 10-ish hour drive but totally do-able. Don't know which is faster - Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel or going through Washington. I'll have to do my mapping to see how long. Things have changed since I last drove down to Virigina.

No, no, no DM! You need to cruise with ME! And it is NEXT Oct, not this Oct! I would have to sell my eggs, or a kidney or something, to go this Oct! The DIsney cruise is Thurs-Thurs, so he would only miss 1 weekend. If we do tthis one, I am going to still try and sneak Sea World/ KSC into our trip. I'm just not telling Wynn... Seriously, we plan to skip shore excursions in Key West (make it a 'sea day')and Castaway Cay/ Cozumel (beach days) so that will cut down on a good bit of expense..

I'm confused. You are looking into Disney cruise? ...and it's Thu to Thu? That would never work either. Vacations are very strict and are Sun - Saturdays. Can go middle of one week to the next. Plus, I would only take my kids out of school for a certain bit of time. That Columbus day week is the best for us as they only have 3 days of school that week.

 

[SingingMom]

Question


Everytime I saw someone wearing lime green, I would ask myself "I wonder if they are a disser or just like lime green"

Please tell me I am not the only one that thinks like that

Oh, yeah, and there was a ton of lime green. It really started to drive me nuts!

Me too!! I really expected to see a lot of Disers but if they were there they were not identifying themselves in any way. I was prepared to do the "I'm watching you" sign but I never got to do it!!

YES! Lots of LIME GREEN without the LGMH. tsk tsk....

ZZUB is the KING of trip reports. You really must become familiar with his work. It's sort of like reading the classics except way more fun!

Spoken like a true LIBRARIAN!

My kids want to do the kids' clubs and plays on the Disney ship. I didn't like that RCCL was only in a couple hour segments for kids' club, verses all day for the Disney. Not saying I want my kids there all day... just that I think it would be nice to plan my schedule to fit me, not the kids' club hours. My kids are the type to want to go when certain activities are going on... then leave! I am really hoping to swing the Disney cruise, but I'll have to wait a while to see. We are really starting to feel the pressure to either add-on to the house or move... and moving is not really an option. Between rising housing costs, and poor home sales in our area, we just can't afford it. My home value has increased by $45,000 in 3 1/2 yrs. To get a comparable home and land, we would be looking about $75,000 more than what ours costs... mainly because our lot size (.78 acre) is no longer available in this area. I told Wynn I am willing to keep driving the Camaro if I can get a cruise, though! (Which is a total lie... but whatever it takes!)

That's what we liked about the Disney Cruise Oceaneer's Club - Dana could pick and choose what she wanted to do and what she didn't want to do! We had the first seating for dinner, then went to the family show together, and then Dana found she liked to go to the Club at that point. Did some activities, watched a Disney movie. It gave Bob & I a little "adult time" - we sat in the piano bar and had a cocktail, or strolled the decks. It was SO NICE! She even asked to go to the club for an hour at Castaway Cay, to dig in the sand, and Bob & I floated in the water for a little while.

I just really liked the "Family atmosphere" of the Disney cruise.

 

[sunlver]

It's still about a 10-ish hour drive but totally do-able. Don't know which is faster - Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel or going through Washington. I'll have to do my mapping to see how long. Things have changed since I last drove down to Virigina.

I'm confused. You are looking into Disney cruise? ...and it's Thu to Thu? That would never work either. Vacations are very strict and are Sun - Saturdays. Can go middle of one week to the next. Plus, I would only take my kids out of school for a certain bit of time. That Columbus day week is the best for us as they only have 3 days of school that week.

Only 10 hrs...no problem But, it would sure beat airfare huh? I am looking forward to cruising with no airfare or road travel involved. On the other hand, getting there is half the fun, right?
Last year we flew to Florida for the cruise. Our flight left around 6am, which meant we left the house at 4am,middle of the night LOL...it was exciting to be outside waiting for the taxi/van in the middle of the night. I had a few friends offer to drive to the airport(Its only about 6 miles away)but I couldnt bring myself to ask anybody at that hour. The plan travel was half the fun.

 

[sunlver]

As far as I can remember about the Carnival cruise, there was activities for the kids most of the day. There was only a certain block of time around lunch time(2-3)hrs they were not opened. During the sea days, Elizabeth did the kids club in the morning right after breakfast, until we drug her out of there to spend time with her family. They even have the kids club opened on port days as well, as some families rather leave the little ones there then take them on tours and such You can even have your kids eat with the kids club at dinner time, if you wanted too. We never did. We ate dinner every night as a family. After dinner, they could decide what they wanted to do. They would leave a schedule for the day(the night before)on the kids bed(along with the chocolates So the kids would look at the schedule and decide what they wanted to do.

Its been 4 yrs since we have been on RCCL, I cant remember what their schedules are like for kids. I do know the kids(Only had 2 at the time)were in the kids club every night.

 

[CourtneyandRyan]

Just checking in to say Hi!!!!

Not to brag, but I'm going on vacation two weeks from tomorrow!!!! Just a mini- vacation... We are going to Pensacola, FL- to the beach with my family... I'm so excited, and the part that beats my Disney vacation is that I'm not paying!!!!

Love yall!

 

[Disneyolic]

Just checking in to say Hi!!!!

Not to brag, but I'm going on vacation two weeks from tomorrow!!!! Just a mini- vacation... We are going to Pensacola, FL- to the beach with my family... I'm so excited, and the part that beats my Disney vacation is that I'm not paying!!!!

Love yall!

Not bragging, huh? Just make sure you post some more beautiful pics here on this thread.

Just to whine a bit. I was supposed to go to the Adirondacks for 3 nights with the family but now Rob doesn't want to use my friend Brandy to dog sit and I refuse to send him to a kennel this time. So, I'll be staying home alone while he goes with the kids (his family will be up there). Can everyone join in and say, "Poor DawnMaree."

 

[Crazy Kanga]

No way would I let my dog keep me away from a family trip, girlfriend. Find someone to keep him.

 

[Disneyolic]

No way would I let my dog keep me away from a family trip, girlfriend. Find someone to keep him.

Truth be told, I'm not that devastated about not going. The Adirondacks were always "Rob's place" while Florida was always "mine" and guess who has won more often even though the Adirondacks are only 2+ hours away?

I'm hoping my parents offer to watch Jake but I'm not going to ask them because they really do a lot for us and I hate to take advantage of them. I like to save favors for something that I REALLY want, ya know? Now, if they offer....

 

[sunlver]

Just checking in to say Hi!!!!

Not to brag, but I'm going on vacation two weeks from tomorrow!!!! Just a mini- vacation... We are going to Pensacola, FL- to the beach with my family... I'm so excited, and the part that beats my Disney vacation is that I'm not paying!!!!

Love yall!

Courtney..not jealous..have a great time. Free is always good.

 

[sunlver]

Not bragging, huh? Just make sure you post some more beautiful pics here on this thread.

Just to whine a bit. I was supposed to go to the Adirondacks for 3 nights with the family but now Rob doesn't want to use my friend Brandy to dog sit and I refuse to send him to a kennel this time. So, I'll be staying home alone while he goes with the kids (his family will be up there). Can everyone join in and say, "Poor DawnMaree."

Why doesnt he want to use your friend to watch your dog? I dont blame you, I wouldnt send my dog to a kennel either. Hey, send him(Dog) this way, Id even petsit for free . We love dogs around here

 

[Disneyolic]

Why doesnt he want to use your friend to watch your dog? I dont blame you, I wouldnt send my dog to a kennel either. Hey, send him(Dog) this way, Id even petsit for free . We love dogs around here

There was a big ordeal with Brandy watching Jake this time. I am not going to type the whole thing now. Let's just say that Rob was fed up with it.

Let's see...drive 10+ hours to have you pet sit, turnaround and drive 12+ hours for 3 nights, turnaround drive 12+ hours to pick up Jake, turnaround and drive 10+ hours back home. Hmmmm.....sounds like a plan!

 

[sunlver]

There was a big ordeal with Brandy watching Jake this time. I am not going to type the whole thing now. Let's just say that Rob was fed up with it.

Let's see...drive 10+ hours to have you pet sit, turnaround and drive 12+ hours for 3 nights, turnaround drive 12+ hours to pick up Jake, turnaround and drive 10+ hours back home. Hmmmm.....sounds like a plan!

Yep,thought that plan sounded pretty reasonable

 

[karibritt01]

I'm confused. You are looking into Disney cruise? ...and it's Thu to Thu? That would never work either. Vacations are very strict and are Sun - Saturdays. Can go middle of one week to the next. Plus, I would only take my kids out of school for a certain bit of time. That Columbus day week is the best for us as they only have 3 days of school that week.

OOPS! I am partly confused myself! I was looking at the kids calendar for next year... 2007-2008. DUH!! Just call me dork! The 7 day western cruise is from Sat, Oct 4 through Sat, Oct 11. The 3 land/4 sea cruise is Thurs, Oct 2 in the parks, then Sun, Oct 5 through Thurs, Oct 9 on the ship. But I have crossed the land/sea cruise off my list (for now!)

I REALLY want to do the Disney cruise, but it is about $1200 more, so I will have to wait and see what works out. It's hard to justify the money right now for Disney over the other cruise lines.

I am lucky that I don't have to pull the kids out of school, since they will be on the year-round calendar. Their fall break is Sept 27- Oct 19. Our county doesn't observe Columbus Day as a holiday... but my kids will be out, anyway!