Disney Fantasy, August 18, 2012 - Western Caribbean

[Dizneycrazee]

So sorry to hear about your MIL. It's heartbreaking and sad to watch someone you love go through a serious illness.

Thank you for your kindness x

I am so sorry and have no idea what this must be like. Sending you prayers.

Thank you x

Sorry to hear about your MIL. Lost my mom 9 months ago and it is tough. One of the main reasons I am taking my kids and grandkids on this cruise is to spend some good time together and to make some lasting memories. I hope all goes well.

So sorry about your mum, you have the same attitude as myself, I lost my parents when I was 11/12 and have always tried to live in the moment and make memories with my family. Life is short and precious. x

I am so sorry. I lost my Dad last Aug to Pancreatic Cancer. From diagnosis to passing was just under 8 weeks. My thoughts and prayers are with your family.
Karina

So sorry about your father. My MIL survived pancreatic cancer a couple of years ago ( she had the wimpole (sp?) procedure ) but this time it was her liver, and now her spine. Shes a marvellous woman and its a hideous disease.

Thank you all for your kindness. She is no longer getting any treatment, so prayers are all she has.

Thanks again, Bren xxx

 

[Corkie]

Hi
just checking in here, Great to see so many new people joining



Weve had a few tough weeks ongoing at the moment with my MIL in the last stages of cancer

We cant say whether or not we will be going on vacation for certain now, we supposed to leave on 11th august so we have a while to see what happens yet.

A facebook group is a good idea as its sometimes easier to recognise people on the cruise once youve seen a teeny tiny photo of them!! (also sometimes not as my profile pic is bruce springsteen who is almost certainly not on our cruise),,,

Bren

My prayers are with you and your family at this time.

 

[olympia]

Disneycrazee,i am so sorry. my prayers with you

this afternoon I have done a new group of facebook. it is closed.
the name is 18 August Western Caribbean.

I can add who you want to be.What do you think about?
I need your names how appears at facebook. I am Lola Oliver

 

[aimshna]

Disneycrazee,i am so sorry. my prayers with you

this afternoon I have done a new group of facebook. it is closed.
the name is 18 August Western Caribbean.

I can add who you want to be.What do you think about?
I need your names how appears at facebook. I am Lola Oliver

Hi, my name on facebook is Deborah Gentry Lind

 

[VeryBeachy]

Disneycrazee,i am so sorry. my prayers with you

this afternoon I have done a new group of facebook. it is closed.
the name is 18 August Western Caribbean.

I can add who you want to be.What do you think about?
I need your names how appears at facebook. I am Lola Oliver

Awesome... Thanks for setting it up!!!

 

[Cherokee2504]

My family is all saying prays for you and your family.

 

[ant3838]

Can some of you share the excursions you signed up for and did you book them through DCL or book them yourself. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
My sister and I are 2 adults traveling and looking to find some great excursions.

Also are any of you coming in the night before and where are you staying or are you flying in in the morning - using Disney transportation or something else. Coming from NY second cruise but it has been a while. Not sure what to do.

And what is FE???

 

[Stacey6274]

Disneycrazee, we are sorry to hear this! Our family will be keep you all in our prayers!


Please add me to the FB my name is stacey cain Donegan

Thank you!!!

Any word on the final county for the FE????

 

[smile750]

Can some of you share the excursions you signed up for and did you book them through DCL or book them yourself. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
My sister and I are 2 adults traveling and looking to find some great excursions.

Also are any of you coming in the night before and where are you staying or are you flying in in the morning - using Disney transportation or something else. Coming from NY second cruise but it has been a while. Not sure what to do.

And what is FE???

We're coming from NJ (Newark) the day before. We are 3 adults and 2 kids (5 and 7). We're renting a van (one-way) and will drop off near the port right before embarkation. We're staying at the Marriott Residence Inn (includes breakfast). If you read back in the posts on this forum you'll see that some people are staying at Disney the night before (and/or several days before). Many are taking Disney transport though many are also taking private shuttle services. If you read a few posts back, someone recommended Royal Shuttle - their rates are posted on their website. Disney transport is $35 each way per person however it gets you to the port a little later than people like so many choose to do a private shuttle. Many that get their own car like to so they can do grocery stops/liquor store stops on their way to the port (some limo services will do this as well).

I chose the Marriott because it's gotten great reviews and also I booked a 2 bedroom suite for the 5 of us (same price as booking two rooms). Many people like the Country Inn and Suites also. Many have shuttles to the port for a small fee (like $6 or so) or some include for free depending upon the package you get. The rental car agencies also shuttle to the port for free (Avis, Alamo, Budget are the most popular).

When we get back to port, we are renting one-way on the way back as well (this was much cheaper for us than doing Disney Transport and I'm keeping the car until the next day which rules out taking a shuttle back as well for us). It was about $75 each way for the van rental for us (though I looked up the Royal shuttle rates and they are competitive - I just need the car though to get around for the rest of the day).

As far as excursions, you'll see all sorts of chatter about what we're all doing. Also you can see general threads about excursions for western Caribbean itinerary in the main disney cruise line forum.

1.We're doing a snorkel/stingray city excursion with Captain Marvin's in Grand Cayman (I booked myself through their website).
2. Staying on the boat in Costa Maya (though I understand it's fun and cheap to rent golf carts to explore the coast for an hour or two).
3. I booked a snorkeling excursion with Two D's Diving and Tours in Cozumel (highly recommended on Trip Advisor) myself through their website.
4. I didn't book any excursions on Castaway Cay - just relax on the beach and maybe snorkel a little (we bring our own equipment).

Jen

 

[ant3838]

Thanks Jen for the information appreciate it. You've given me a lot to think about.

Antoinette

 

[GrownUpDisneyFamily]

Hey Fellow Families!

Can't wait for this upcoming cruise!

Like the username suggests, we are what might be considered an older Disney Family, but thrilled nonetheless to go on what will be our third Disney Cruise!

DW, DH, DS(22), DS(21), and our youngest, DD(17)

So excited!

 

[Cruisebound]

Hi
just checking in here, Great to see so many new people joining



Weve had a few tough weeks ongoing at the moment with my MIL in the last stages of cancer

We cant say whether or not we will be going on vacation for certain now, we supposed to leave on 11th august so we have a while to see what happens yet.

A facebook group is a good idea as its sometimes easier to recognise people on the cruise once youve seen a teeny tiny photo of them!! (also sometimes not as my profile pic is bruce springsteen who is almost certainly not on our cruise),,,

Bren

Our family is going through the same thing right now. My dh sister probably has only a few weeks left. Hospice has upped her pain meds. She is only 45 and like a sister to me. It took such a turn for the worse. I am hoping the Cruise will cheer my kids up and put them in a better place before school starts. It is going to be rough!

I have not been here to check in for several weeks because life is chaotic. I had the GS camp for the past 2 weeks and I lost the Internet for over a week due to that awful storm. Fortunately we never lost power in the house. Some of my friends did not have power for a week in the 100 degree weather.

 

[aimshna]

Our family is going through the same thing right now. My dh sister probably has only a few weeks left. Hospice has upped her pain meds. She is only 45 and like a sister to me. It took such a turn for the worse. I am hoping the Cruise will cheer my kids up and put them in a better place before school starts. It is going to be rough!

I have not been here to check in for several weeks because life is chaotic. I had the GS camp for the past 2 weeks and I lost the Internet for over a week due to that awful storm. Fortunately we never lost power in the house. Some of my friends did not have power for a week in the 100 degree weather.

I am feeling your pain. I lost my mom 9 months ago and that is why I am going on this cruise and taking all my kids and grandkids. Where else should you go but to the happiest place on sea to make some lasting memories and help cheer us all up.

 

[ant3838]

I am not looking to join but what are fish extenders - is this an activity for the kids?

 

[Corkie]

Chris,

Is the FE finished, did you finalize it?

Thanks,
Grammy

 

[smile750]

I am not looking to join but what are fish extenders - is this an activity for the kids?

Here's a quick simple explanation I copied from another thread:

"First you would visit your cruise meet thread (if there is one). If there is a FE group organized, that's where you would find it.

Basically, someone in the group will say "anybody interested in doing FEs?". If the answer is yes, then someone (usually the person who asked the question in the first place, but not necessarily) will set up a list of names/room #s/adults kids (and ages) to be used by the participants for distributing FE gifts.

FE gifts can range from simple to extreme. We've received candy, christmas ornaments, postcards from the givers home area, autograph books, custom made CDs with themed music, anything you want.

A FE can be a fancy hanging pocket bag with separate pockets for each person in the room. It can also be just a grocery sack (yes, I've seen this), one big bag for everyone in the room."

 

[VeryBeachy]

Hey Fellow Families!

Can't wait for this upcoming cruise!

Like the username suggests, we are what might be considered an older Disney Family, but thrilled nonetheless to go on what will be our third Disney Cruise!

DW, DH, DS(22), DS(21), and our youngest, DD(17)

So excited!

Hello and welcome!

 

[VeryBeachy]

Can some of you share the excursions you signed up for and did you book them through DCL or book them yourself. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
My sister and I are 2 adults traveling and looking to find some great excursions.

Also are any of you coming in the night before and where are you staying or are you flying in in the morning - using Disney transportation or something else. Coming from NY second cruise but it has been a while. Not sure what to do.

And what is FE???

Hi Antoinette,

We are a family of three..Me, DH and DS (10) ready for our second Disney Cruise. Below are the excursions we selected (all booked via Disney).

-Grand Gayman: Island Tour (scheduled for 10:30am. Afterwards, get a cab/ bus to Smith Cove Beach and finish up by exploring George Town)

-Costa Maya: No excursion planned... not sure why

-Cozumel: Cozumel Highlights/Mayan Ruins

-Castaway Cay: Snorkel/Bike/Tube and Relax!! Although I'm sure you and your sister would find it even more relaxing on the adult beach!

We are arriving to Port Canaveral the morning of the cruise. Staying the night before in northern Florida. Parking our vehicle at "Park N Cruise"

 

[JLDSMD]

Can some of you share the excursions you signed up for and did you book them through DCL or book them yourself. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
My sister and I are 2 adults traveling and looking to find some great excursions.

Also are any of you coming in the night before and where are you staying or are you flying in in the morning - using Disney transportation or something else. Coming from NY second cruise but it has been a while. Not sure what to do.

And what is FE???

We did the Stingray excursion in Grand Cayman and loved it. We also went out to "hell" (not much there, but cool nonetheless). The last time we were there, and this time as well, we went to Public Beach on Seven Mile Beach. Had a great time there.

Costa Maya we will just be getting off to get an Xmas ornament (DW's collects them every trip and puts them on one of our Xmas trees) and then probably back on the ship.

In Cozumel we have done both Chankanaab and one of the beach clubs. We like Chankanaab better. This time we'll probably just get off to get some vanilla and walk around a bit and then get back on the ship.

Castaway Cay we usually do the family beach all day. We did the adult beach a couple times and both beaches are great.

We are flying down the night before the cruise and renting a car. We'll probably stay at the Holiday Inn Express (stayed there back in January) and then have Avis take us to the port. If you are dropping your car before the morning, I would suggest Country Inn & Suites, Radisson, or Residence Inn since they all have shuttles to the port. We've done the Ron Jon, but we won't have time to enjoy the grounds before we sail.

 

[ant3838]

Thank you everyone for responding. Can't wait and hope to meet some of you. I finalized flights and transportation. Decided to come in the day before, staying at Wilderness Lodge - it is my home away from home. I am a DVC member- even though I know renting a car would be less expensive, I decided to use DCL for transportation both ways - just wanted a no brainer stress free vacation. Tough couple of years - loss my mom, out of work teacher and just really need to get away from it all.

I haven't booked excursion yet, but love hearing ideas so please keep sending them.

Thank you everyone looking forward to being on the cruise with all you.

Antoinette