Disney Fantasy, August 18, 2012 - Western Caribbean

[DizzyFORDisney]

Hmmm.....we're still thinking about our before-the-cruise plans. Think we might drive down a few days early and explore Florida...maybe the keys, Everglades, gulf coast, maybe a beach somewhere for a couple of days....would love to take the kids on an airboat ride!! We just went out west (Tetons, Yellowstone, Bryce, Grand Canyon...etc) and the kids are now enamored with National Parks and such....

 

[DVC_Chris]

DW and I were just trying to figure this out today, I am thinking either four or five nights at the Villas at Wilderness Lodge pre-cruise, and maybe a small Vero Beach stay post cruise.

I am excited that we are now less than a year away.

 

[DVC_Chris]

BTW: How's that precious princess of yours Chris?

She is doing well... hard to to believe she is over six weeks old already. My wife laughs at me when I tell her about Walt Disney World and Mickey Mouse

As for driving in a rental car, going from MCO to the port is very easy, 99% of it is one road with very few turn offs. From Universal, it also is not too bad, but a smidge more complicated.

 

[boundfordisney]

wow I hope that in a year from now we arent experiencing a storm like whats happening now.Guess its a good thing we will be flying down a few days earlier then the cruise as I would be more concerned about getting down to Florida and getting to port on time, Im thinking I better get insurance to be on the safe side just in case as I know that this date is one of the more likely times you could have weather problems! Sunny skies and warm breezes are my thoughts!

 

[It'sWDW4me]

Less than a year now and I'm starting to think about what I'll be doing for FE. How do we get the FE list rolling?

 

[boundfordisney]

Less than a year now and I'm starting to think about what I'll be doing for FE. How do we get the FE list rolling?

I believe Dvc chris was going to do the honours as far as the fe is concerned? Ive already got a small box of things for it, figured Id start early then add things as I come across them, last cruise I left it a little late and was rushed so Im not gonna do that again.Im surprized that we havent had any more join up on this meet since we are past the 1 year mark and the ship is pretty full now,checked out the video on utube of the last building block set into place, wow its really coming along! sorcerer mickey is on the bow! Cant wait to be sailing! Happy labour day! Kids back to school tomorrow! hope everyone has had a great summer and look forward to meeting you all next summer!

 

[PrincessBelle39]

Hi everyone
Its been a while since I posted so thought it was time I popped in to say we still exist.
We are starting to move along with our plans now. We've booked our international flights and just have our internal flights to book now. We are hoping to change our return flight but at this stage we have had to cut 2 nights off our stay in NYC as we couldn't get the return date we hoped for. Hopefully someone will cancel and we can change it later on.
We've booked our WDW accommodation. We are staying at Windsor Hills again (which we love) in a pool villa so we are really happy with that. Just have our NYC accommodation to book now. We have something in mind though.
We've started organising FE gifts. Mum is still making her FE but I still have mine from last time.
Its really starting to feel real now. I was looking at the prices of the cruise now and can't believe how much they've gone up. We certainly booked at the right time.
Hope everyone else is doing well.

 

[It'sWDW4me]

Hi everyone
Its been a while since I posted so thought it was time I popped in to say we still exist.
We are starting to move along with our plans now. We've booked our international flights and just have our internal flights to book now. We are hoping to change our return flight but at this stage we have had to cut 2 nights off our stay in NYC as we couldn't get the return date we hoped for. Hopefully someone will cancel and we can change it later on.
We've booked our WDW accommodation. We are staying at Windsor Hills again (which we love) in a pool villa so we are really happy with that. Just have our NYC accommodation to book now. We have something in mind though.
We've started organising FE gifts. Mum is still making her FE but I still have mine from last time.
Its really starting to feel real now. I was looking at the prices of the cruise now and can't believe how much they've gone up. We certainly booked at the right time.
Hope everyone else is doing well.

Hey Suzanne! I've already started my FE gifts stockpile, too. As I see something interesting at a decent price, I'll grab it. The problem with that is I tend to forget what I already have at home and wind up getting a mountain. I do that every year for Christmas. Maybe I'll start carrying a list around with me as to keep me reminded. I'm also making something for each "family" and I hope I have enough time to finish them all.

Good for Mum for making her FE. I'm so not good with sewing so I plan on buying one from eBay. There are two sellers on there who look like they make quality FE's. Now I'm not sure if I should get one 4-pocket or two 2-pocket since I don't know if my mum or DB will like cruising and will ever go again. Even though I have never cruised before, I've already decided that I love it and will definitely do it again.

Have you ever been to NYC before? Funny how close I live (about 2 hrs drive) but I don't go often at all. The one thing that I swear I will NEVER, EVER do is to drive in NYC. NEVER. The subways, buses and taxis are lovely, though.

 

[boundfordisney]

So where is everyone? Hope everbody had a great summer, fall will be here before we know it! 8 more days and I will be back at disney!Still havent even attempted to do my packing maybe tomorrow. I so wish it was 8 days to our cruise as Im sooo looking forward to that trip most of all!Right after xmas Iam planning on getting the cruise paid for then can just relax and worry about what if any excursions to do! Wow if we had waited till now to book for the same date and number of people we would have to have paid 14 thousand somewhere around there and no way would that be happening Wonder what the prices will be like when they open up for 2013 you can bet I will be checking them out when the date is released asap!

 

[DVC_Chris]

Hi everyone,

Sorry I have been absent for so long, but work (and the new baby) has kept me pretty swamped. She has started sleeping through the night now, so I am starting to return to a bit of sanity

Definitely time to start working on the FE list. We will definitely be participating, but if everyone that is interested could please post so in the thread or PM me that would be great. We already have the age and number of people in each cabin, but I will need people's cabin number as well.

Another fun thing we might want to do (depending on the number of different categories we have) is a cabin crawl. This way people can see what all of the different kinds of staterooms are. Is anyone interested in that?

I am excited because we booked our pre-cruise stay. We are going to be staying at VWL in a 1 bedroom villa for 5 nights before the cruise. I cannot wait. We might also try to sneak in two nights at Vero Beach beforehand as well. I am not sure yet though.

I am also happy that we will be managing to sneak a trip down to WDW in December. I am thinking of getting Lexi's first haircut (and she has plenty of hair already) at the barber shop on Main Street during that trip

Hope everyone had a great summer and only 331 short days until our trip!

 

[DVC_Chris]

Have you ever been to NYC before? Funny how close I live (about 2 hrs drive) but I don't go often at all. The one thing that I swear I will NEVER, EVER do is to drive in NYC. NEVER. The subways, buses and taxis are lovely, though.

I live on Long Island, and I never drive in Manhattan either (although the rest of the boroughs are not that bad).

 

[DVC_Chris]

So where is everyone? Hope everbody had a great summer, fall will be here before we know it! 8 more days and I will be back at disney!Still havent even attempted to do my packing maybe tomorrow. I so wish it was 8 days to our cruise as Im sooo looking forward to that trip most of all!Right after xmas Iam planning on getting the cruise paid for then can just relax and worry about what if any excursions to do! Wow if we had waited till now to book for the same date and number of people we would have to have paid 14 thousand somewhere around there and no way would that be happening Wonder what the prices will be like when they open up for 2013 you can bet I will be checking them out when the date is released asap!

I always enjoy seeing the price go up after we book.

Have a great time at the world. It has been over a year for me, and I am going through withdrawal.

 

[boundfordisney]

Yeah fe time it really makes the cruise seem a little closer! So here is the info you need from me Myself Leslie of course dh Terry and our grandson Jordan 16 at time of cruise and grandaughter Tori 15 at time of cruise. Stateroom 10114. The cabin crawl sounds like fun Id never heard of that before but count me in!Glad to have you back with us and happy that your princess is sleeping through the night now. Thanks for doing all the work as far as putting together the fe and cabin crawl ! looking forward to meeting you and your family and everyone else on this cruise!

 

[boundfordisney]

Well got back from disney Thursday night and Im missing it already!
The weather was great no rain , did the mnsshp on the 30th , was a sold out date and the park was very crowded. Also went to universal to see the harry potter stuff but I must say we were dissapointed in it, not what we were expecting. Guess no one does things the way disney does! So where is everyone? Anyone else waiting for the new dates to open up for 2013, Im eagerly waiting and hope prices are affordable!

 

[PrincessBelle39]

Hey Suzanne! I've already started my FE gifts stockpile, too. As I see something interesting at a decent price, I'll grab it. The problem with that is I tend to forget what I already have at home and wind up getting a mountain. I do that every year for Christmas. Maybe I'll start carrying a list around with me as to keep me reminded. I'm also making something for each "family" and I hope I have enough time to finish them all.

Good for Mum for making her FE. I'm so not good with sewing so I plan on buying one from eBay. There are two sellers on there who look like they make quality FE's. Now I'm not sure if I should get one 4-pocket or two 2-pocket since I don't know if my mum or DB will like cruising and will ever go again. Even though I have never cruised before, I've already decided that I love it and will definitely do it again.

Have you ever been to NYC before? Funny how close I live (about 2 hrs drive) but I don't go often at all. The one thing that I swear I will NEVER, EVER do is to drive in NYC. NEVER. The subways, buses and taxis are lovely, though.

I looked on ebay last time for a FE. There are some really nice ones on there. I ended up making my own. Not very well but it does the job. I followed the instructions that I found on the board somewhere. But to be honest, with the price of material etc, its not really any different buying it. And they look great.

I'm sure you will all love cruising. Who could not on a ship like the Fantasy. I didn't want to do a cruise last time. It was DH's idea. I was quite nervous. And of course I loved it. Not sure how I would go with any other cruiseline though. I think I suit Disney.

No, we haven't been to New York before. We are really excited. We were supposed to be staying 6 nights but have had to go with 4 as we couldn't get the return flights we wanted. We will keep trying and add on the extra nights if we can change our flights at a later date. Otherwise, we will just have to work harder with our siteseeing. We've booked our hotel. We are staying at the Affinia Manhattan. The location looks terrific. Driving is definitely something we are not going to attempt here.

Hi everyone,

Sorry I have been absent for so long, but work (and the new baby) has kept me pretty swamped. She has started sleeping through the night now, so I am starting to return to a bit of sanity

Definitely time to start working on the FE list. We will definitely be participating, but if everyone that is interested could please post so in the thread or PM me that would be great. We already have the age and number of people in each cabin, but I will need people's cabin number as well.

Another fun thing we might want to do (depending on the number of different categories we have) is a cabin crawl. This way people can see what all of the different kinds of staterooms are. Is anyone interested in that?

I am excited because we booked our pre-cruise stay. We are going to be staying at VWL in a 1 bedroom villa for 5 nights before the cruise. I cannot wait. We might also try to sneak in two nights at Vero Beach beforehand as well. I am not sure yet though.

I am also happy that we will be managing to sneak a trip down to WDW in December. I am thinking of getting Lexi's first haircut (and she has plenty of hair already) at the barber shop on Main Street during that trip

Hope everyone had a great summer and only 331 short days until our trip!

Glad things are going well with Lexi. Your lucky she's sleeping through the night. Megan is 9 and still doesn't do this. Sammy on the other hand is a sleeper. Thank goodness.

VWL will be awesome. I've always wanted to stay at WL and the villa's would be terrific. We've only stayed onsite once at AKL which we did love.

We definitely want to be included in the FE. Me, DH and Sammy are in 6574 and my Mum (Christine) and Megan are in 6576. You can also add us to the Cabin Crawl. We are a 5D. Mums cabin is the same.

Well got back from disney Thursday night and Im missing it already!
The weather was great no rain , did the mnsshp on the 30th , was a sold out date and the park was very crowded. Also went to universal to see the harry potter stuff but I must say we were dissapointed in it, not what we were expecting. Guess no one does things the way disney does! So where is everyone? Anyone else waiting for the new dates to open up for 2013, Im eagerly waiting and hope prices are affordable!

Glad you had a great time at WDW. Lucky you. I had heard that 30 September was a sold out date for MNSSHP. I'm sure it was great though. We did this twice on our last trip and the kids loved it. Megan has asked if our next trip can be at Halloween again. We don't celebrate this here so its a novelty for us.

I was wondering about Harry Potter from a Disney fans perspective. The kids want to go to Universal to see Scooby Doo. So we figured we may as well the two park pass and do HP aswell. We have been to both parks before but did them both in a day. Of course it was a quiet time of the year.

We are working hard on paying for our trip at the moment. I want to get as much done as I possibly can as the exchange rate is fluctuating a lot at the moment and I don't want to get caught out paying much more than I have to.

 

[PrincessBelle39]

Hi everyone, it might be old news but did everyone see that the Costa Maya excursions are on the DCL website. I found that if I just select Costa Maya it says 'please check back later'. But if I go through the page where I can tick the box for each destination, they come up.
Suzanne

 

[It'sWDW4me]

Hi everyone, it might be old news but did everyone see that the Costa Maya excursions are on the DCL website. I found that if I just select Costa Maya it says 'please check back later'. But if I go through the page where I can tick the box for each destination, they come up.
Suzanne

Cool - thanks for posting this! I looked a week or two ago and there was nothing up yet. So exciting. I can NOT decide what to do or where. We purposefully booked the western for the ruins - now do we do the Cozumel or the Costa Maya ruins? I DEFINITELY want to snorkel - which port should I do that in and what could my mom and brother do instead? Mom is actually allergic to seawater (I seriously thought it was psychosomatic but googled it and was shocked at how many people get the same reactions as she does!) and DB isn't a strong swimmer at all..... hmmmm, so WHY did they want to go on a cruise?!? Oh, yeah, it was my idea.

Oy, this excursion selection process is gonna drive me insane!

 

[It'sWDW4me]

Question about the FE - I'm definitely in but, technically, we'll be two families in the same cabin. If my mom is interested in exchanging, too, would we be considered one.... ummmm.... entry or would we need to sign up twice? So, would we be:

cabin 8512 - Elsie; Mary; Matthew (16) & Brandon (16)

Or would we be:

cabin 8512 - Elsie & Matthew (16)
cabin 8512 - Mary & Brandon (16)

I'm not sure that she wants to exchange so this may be moot but I'm curious what the proper procedure would be.

 

[PrincessBelle39]

Mary, I'm sure we could work it out if she wants to exchange too. I dont think there is room to hang two FE but you could probably section yours off so it was half for you and half for your Mum. Alternatively, I dont see why you couldn't be just one cabin either. I don't think it really matters.

 

[boundfordisney]

wow we are down to a little over 9 months! I plan on getting the cruise paid off after xmas is done so hopefully by the beginning of march we will be paid in full! Havent yet booked anything for 2013 prices are still a little high but I guess that isnt gonna change for quite some time, I know they are only going to go up the longer you wait to book so Im planning on booking something in the next 2 weeks or so, even just a dummy date for now. so where is everybody Im surprized no one else has hooked up with us yet