Disney Dream April 19, 2012 - 3 Nights

[mdurette]

received the PM. Also got my cruise documents this week!
Now....need to work on my FE gifts and FE (yes, I will be the one with the simple bag....there is no sewing in my house!!!!)

Aaah...need to do my taxes to....Darn, that a drag. Would rather think about the cruise!

 

[teach819]

Where is everyone! Sue, you've been missing for two weeks now. Hope all is well.

I made stickers for a countdown for DS. Now if only I can get them attached to the index cards, he might be able to start our official countdown. I had 30 days made, but seeing as how we are now on 27 days, I better get that done after school today so he can join in on the fun. I've been so focused on our cruise part that I've neglected planning for our two days at the park. I'm trying to work on that as well, though I'm also working on lots of things for school, especially since the upper grades will start EOG review the week I'm gone. I'm excited about being on vacation for a week but all the prep work before leaving is going to kill me. I'll need fun in the sun after this.

 

[mdurette]

I'm here....just thought about what to do for FE. Now....time to get to work on them!

Teach....are you in two rooms with all those people? Working on a "family gift" for the FE and not sure how many I should make for your clan.

 

[teach819]

We're in three separate rooms, all next to each other. Me, DH, and DS in one, my parents in the second, and my brother and his fiance in the third room.

Now I realize that I didn't include all room numbers. Hmm... must go find that information since I am making an FE for each room (provided I get my butt in gear and actually sew those FEs darn it!)

 

[pershing]

I'm here too!

Just had a bout of flu or bug or whatever run through the family. Better now than in April!

Still so much to do for the trip. I usually pull out the clothes after my bill folder is put together and go through what I'm gonna bring and then clean the house from top to bottom. Not sure why I have to deep clean the house before each trip. I guess it has to do with staying in those clean hotel rooms and then not wanting to come home to grubbiness. Anyway, instead of doing the clothes this time, for some reason I'm obsessed with starting the cleaning. Maybe because we were sick and the bedding got washed and I kept going.

Adding to our stressful spring, my backyard abutts backyards from another road and on Saturday the house diagonal to my backyard burst into flames! I'm watching the firepeople fight to put out the house while locust trees whose branches intermingled with my locust trees burned. Finally, they started to spray the trees, but I was up all night checking for embers. I don't really landscape my yard, just let it go Cape Cod natural, but I really should get out there and clear away dead wood and stuff. I have a old garden hose but it has wholes in it. Kinda a wake up call, but I can barely handle the inside of the house, working and taking care of the kids!

The paper said the fire was arson by the homeowners themselves. Spray cans. I thought I lived in a nice neighborhood! Maybe it was a foreclosure thing.

Nevertheless, today is gorgeous! Went for a beach walk and it felt like summer. Birds everywhere. Water is still green and freezing though.

I, too, got my cruise docs. Pretty soon. Baby blue water.

My youngest turns 14 in 3 days. 1998 seems like yesterday!

Here's a picture of my babies when they were still babies in 2003:

http://www2.snapfish.com/snapfish/slideshow/AlbumID=3726927009/PictureID=448857026009/a=76574530_76574530/otsc=SHR/otsi=SPIClink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/

 

[teach819]

Oh my goodness Sue, your boys are darling!

And oh my goodness to the arson nearby. It's crazy what people will do!

I have so much stuff to do for this vacation as well as work. The stress just might do me in soon. I really need to stop getting ideas for Disney Cruise stuff and WDW b/c I'm making my "To-Do List" really, really long!

 

[StaciMay]

I'm still here. I didn't participate in the FE because I am not crafty at all and it would just stress me out. We got our cruise documents too. I was skipping away from the mailbox I was so excited.

So does anyone have any specific excursions, spa dates, palo/remy reservations they are excited about? I want to hear everyone's plans!!

I am booked for a couple of hours in the spa for a facial and massage on Nassau day. Has anyone had experience with the spa. Are they gonna try to pressure me to buy stuff? Do they run on time?

 

[teach819]

We have a Palo reservation Friday night with the whole family. We're also doing the Atlantis Beach trip at Nassau. I can't wait!!

The spa sounds wonderful. I may have to do that on our next trip!

 

[pershing]

I am booked for a couple of hours in the spa for a facial and massage on Nassau day. Has anyone had experience with the spa. Are they gonna try to pressure me to buy stuff? Do they run on time?

Short answer-yes, they will try to sell you stuff at the end. However, before you go in, you have to fill out this form about health and other stuff. Diser's have written at the bottom something like- 'No sales pitches please!' and it has mostly worked.

I always resented being all relaxed at the end from a fabulous massage and then wham! tensed up from them trying to get me to buy something I will never use.

I don't have any spa procedures planned yet. I probably will get a day pass to use the spa facilities-used to be called the Rainforest Room on the Wonder/Dream. I guess now it's the Senses Spa on the Dream. Normally the Embarkation Day has a 10% off deal on Spa treatments in the Navigator. If the boys and WDW have worn me out I may take advantage of that!

 

[mdurette]

Hey Sue - we went for a bike ride/walk on the beach also yesterday (Horseneck). But, the fog didn't really burn off. But, it was still nice to get out there. I also noticed the water color/clarity was better than we typically see mid summer! Lots of big clam shells washed up on the beach.

I want to book a spa treatment for morning of Bahama day. I can see that either is open - anyone recommend one vs the other?

Elemis Aroma Spa Ocean Wrap with Half Body Massage
Elemis Aroma Stone Therapy

 

[pershing]

Hey Sue - we went for a bike ride/walk on the beach also yesterday (Horseneck). But, the fog didn't really burn off. But, it was still nice to get out there. I also noticed the water color/clarity was better than we typically see mid summer! Lots of big clam shells washed up on the beach.

I want to book a spa treatment for morning of Bahama day. I can see that either is open - anyone recommend one vs the other?

Elemis Aroma Spa Ocean Wrap with Half Body Massage
Elemis Aroma Stone Therapy

Wow, you are not that far from me! So nice to walk the pristine empty beaches, isn't it? Pretty soon it will be wall to wall people. It's been kinda like a mini-vacation before the vacation around here. Or a chance to get a base tan.

Regarding the spa therapies, I can sublimely remember the second one being awesome, but I've not had the first one. Sounds too squishy for me! I have texture issues.

 

[1stdcl2012]

Alright - most everyone seems to be here. So glad the fire didn't caught on Sue's place, them being closeby to the neighbor's house - hope you're all safe. I'm scared of fire...

I gave the kids' school absence letters to their respective homeroom teachers (1st gr and 2nd gr), so they'll be getting homework/etc the day before the trip. I also promised their teachers I'll make the kids maintain a journal of our trip, to jot down stuff they learned, draw pictures, etc. I need to research some stuff about Bahamas, maritime travel and safety, technology on big ships and DCL ships in particular - ofcourse, age-appropriate to 7-8 year olds . Maybe I promised too much to their teachers , but I was aiming for a positive response because our cruise was after the week of Spring break.

Anyway, I also got our cruise docs. Now, I'm deciding which luggage to bring. I really want to pack less as we usually end up bringing home unused/clean clothes after a trip! Plus, I wanted to buy souvenir shirts from Castaway Cay which we will wear on the trip home post-cruise.

We will bring pirate garb on Night2 (Nassau day) and dress-up on Night3 (Castaway Day). I got new Lindsey Phillips shoes (you can change the decoration to make it casual/formal) but it hurt my feet a bit the first time I walked on it for about 2 hours - not a good sign for cruise shoes. Hmmm...

As for Port Adventures, we're doing Atlantis Aquaventure. Honestly, DH and I saw their ad on TV a few years back and we're considering flying over and staying at the Atlantis resort before we even considered cruising on DCL. So it was just an added bonus for us to do it this time as part of our cruise.

I wanted to do Remy and Palo, but since it's our first time and we're not celebrating any special occasion, I felt I can't spare the time. I wanted to experience the usual MDR as I might get spoiled by Remy/Palo and won't enjoy them later. Plus, I wanted to see how the kids would like the MDR. They're always interested in trying different foods.

Spa - DH and I also love spa treatments, but won't be doing this time. I may get a treatment for MIL, as a Mother's Day gift. But I need to ask her if she'd want to go. We might get the Rainforest Pass, it's just that I don't want to leave the baby too much with MIL. I have to see if I can grab extra nursery hours for DD17mos (if DD even liked it - I'd feel terrible to put her there if she hated it).

Anyways, those are the minor details that happened so far. Still very bz at work, I want to finish as much as possible before the trip.

Sue, I also LOVE cleaning the house before leaving for a trip. We tried that one time and enjoyed coming home to "fresh" house. So I think I want to do that again. Before, we used to leave the house in shambles since we pack last minute and leave stuff strewn all over It wasn't too nice when we got back home after the trip, opening the front door and seeing the mess the house was in when we left it!

Have a wonderful weekend to all!
-

 

[mdurette]

Hello All:
Just wanted to let you know I have been working on my FE gifts today and it has really gotten me in the mood for the cruise (not that I wasn't already!). It has been alot of computer work. Bon Jovi youtube videos playing in the background, a couple glasses of wine and cruise prep....made for a pretty good Saturday night at home while the DH was working and the DD sound asleep in bed!!!!

Also...for those rented a car. I previously mentioned a great rate with Budget and Wendy's cose. Just wanted to let you know Alamo has finally lowered their rates. We have just over $200 for full size with them for April 16-22. (I simply prefer Alamo over Budget). So, if your still looking at car rentals...check them out. I used Alamo insider code and coupon you can find right on their site.

 

[mdurette]

Oooh....have a good tip for all you coffee and soft drink people out there. Bring your own travel mugs. I'm a coffee drinker in the am. Nothing worse than rolling out of bed....get up to the deck for my morning java and be provided with a cup that holds 5 sips and you spill all over the place on your way back to the room!

I almost forgot about this, but another thread just reminded me!

 

[tinafish]

Good tip on the travel mug!

We are signed up for dinner at Remy on the 3rd night since we didn't want to miss Pirate night! We're both a little nervous about it since we aren't super adventurous eaters but I'm hoping it's worth it. We have been to Palo on The Wonder and Magic and loved it!

No spa treatments for us. We are planning on getting passes for the Rainforest room so maybe we'll run into some of you there!

 

[mdurette]

ok - can someone explain what the rainforest room is?

 

[teach819]

ok - can someone explain what the rainforest room is?

I think it has something to do with the steam saunas at the spa

Hopefully someone else has experienced that and can give more info.

 

[teach819]

Less than 3 weeks before my family and I head on down to Florida. We're actually leaving a day early and stopping in Savannah to spend the night. DH and I didn't want to drive 9+ hours with toddler in the car. I have only 8 more school days before spring break and I'm starting to stress out! I'm working on lesson plans for teachers today but also creating a to-do list of all the plans, assessments, and what-nots that I have to finish before spring break since our trip is actually the week after spring break (which means I've got myself a two-week vacation!!) I'm kind of wishing I could just fast forward to our Disney vacation part so I can relax. I did start working on sewing our FEs and FE gifts yesterday (was home with my son who had pink eye, grrr I hate pink eye!). I want time to speed up but at the same time it needs to slow down so I can get all this work done.

Which I should really get back to work now. sigh

 

[pershing]

Rainforest Room The rainforest is a special area that consists of 3 different steam rooms, heated loungers, etc. There are "specialty" showers like a fog shower and ones with 10 shower heads at all angles. It's a nice place to hang out and relax. (It's co-ed that means bathingsuits and they give you a robe.)

You can pre-order a 1 day pass on disneycruise dot com under in-room gifts and shopping. $15 plus $1 handling

There is also a sauna in the locker room along with other showers which are free. You can always use the showers in the women or men's locker room instead of your stateroom. I love the frisbee sized shower head! Less claustrophobic and way more room to blow dry your hair and put on make-up than your stateroom bathroom! You just have to lug all your stuff up to the spa. (Except shampoo, conditioner and shower gel! There's a dispenser in the shower!)

Although, my stateroom is supposed to have a circular tub. I can't wait!~

I hear you teach. I have so much to do! My youngest birthday party is this weekend. Then, the kid's are spending Easter with my ex. Although I'm working Friday and Saturday, I can pack Sunday in between church and Easter Dinner at my mom's. Life is good!

Since everyone's giving hints, I got one for those of us doing WDW. If you have a iphone, either scan your WDW tickets into your computer and then email yourself the attachment or just take a picture of them. It's better than a copy (although I do that too) because you can magnify the numbers with the fingers spread move and you can't do that with a copy. If you lose your tickets this could save your vacation, as Disney will replace them if you have the numbers.

Don't forget to put your phones on airplane mode when boarding the cruise. Bahamian roaming charges for texts received and inadvertant (butt) calling are no fun!

 

[teach819]

Good tips on the iphone suggestions for WDW and the cruise. Must remember airplane mode, especially for DH who has butt called me one too many times!