Disney Wonder Jan 23, 2011

[mketting]

Hello everyone haven't checked in for awhile. Does anyone know when the port opens? I am one of those people who like to be there when it opens and get the #2 boarding pass. We r taking super shuttle from lax and am trying to figure out what time we should have our pickup.

 

[jkrislc]

Yes, another research conference, Jessica, but I like them.

It sounds like you have a difficult professor. However, I'd talk to him/her after the next class and explain the situation and ask for a make up exercise since you were told you'd be fine. Logic will win out in the end. And if things don't work out in the end, I can help you work through the system to resolve the issue at a higher level, but you won't get anywhere until the semester is over.

Kris

 

[SueTGGR]

Hello everyone haven't checked in for awhile. Does anyone know when the port opens? I am one of those people who like to be there when it opens and get the #2 boarding pass. We r taking super shuttle from lax and am trying to figure out what time we should have our pickup.

If my brain remembers correctly...1PM?? or is that just when we can start boarding? I will research in case no one else knows.
I get to spend my Saturday with 9-8th grade girls. This is our FINAL volleyball game/s, an all day tournament. I am hoping it goes well. They have not played outstanding this season except for our last 2 games. I am hoping something clicks for them on their last time playing volleyball together.
Later,
Sue

 

[jkrislc]

Mketting: 10/10:30 is usually when the port building opens. However, the Wonder will just be returning from a 2 nighter and only the second docking in the same number of days, so there's no telling how efficient the process will be.

Kris

 

[googles111]

[

You can count my DH & I in for the tastings. We totally missed out on our 1st cruise. I have read reviews of the Martini tastings and I am still on the fence about tequila but, hey!, we will be in Mexico, right?
We will also be packing a few bottles of wine in our bags to have with dinner & a few other ideas. We really aren't big drinkers but when we are on vacation we will partake in a few drinks so count us in, Tonya.
Off to work!
Sue

Whooo hoo Yeah, I'm not sure about the tequila one. I will do the wine and martini one though.

Last cruise we found one of our bags on the rack where you claim them back at port in a garbage bag. One of the bottle of rum we bought broke despite being wrapped in bubble wrap and a beach towel. The bag had to be sacrificed once we got home. This year I am prepared. Order these on skymall (I fly a lot) and the plan is to bring two bottles on board and two bottle back.

http://www.magellans.com/store/Health___Hygiene___Food___DrinkFP135?Partner_ID=FRGL

Thought I would share.

Frank

Or you can get them here for a little cheaper http://www.amazon.com/Travel-Wine-Protector-Set-2/dp/B0033C6FOM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=office-products&qid=1288418937&sr=8-1

Oh and if anybody wanted to stay the night before at a hotel and park your car there for free one of them is called the Vagabond Hotel in San Pedro, Ca. You can look it up on www.tripadvisor.com That's what I always do before I stay at a hotel. We are only staying one night so for the price it sounds good. If it was more then a couple days I probably wouldn't stay.

 

[F&A]

We are staying at the Hilton LAX the night before. We never fly in the day of a cruise. Too stressful. The normal routine is to sleep in (ok that usually means like 7:30), have breakfast at the hotel and take our time to the buses from the airport. This is a two hour negative time difference vs. the one hour positive time difference with Florida so it was all the more reason to get in the night before. Let the vacation begin a day early is what I say. Too bad Ashley will be bringing along school work. Already budgeted to buy 250 minute package of WiFi so she can keep up.

 

[Kidlette]

We are staying at the Hilton LAX the night before. We never fly in the day of a cruise. Too stressful. The normal routine is to sleep in (ok that usually means like 7:30), have breakfast at the hotel and take our time to the buses from the airport. This is a two hour negative time difference vs. the one hour positive time difference with Florida so it was all the more reason to get in the night before. Let the vacation begin a day early is what I say. Too bad Ashley will be bringing along school work. Already budgeted to buy 250 minute package of WiFi so she can keep up.

I am in the same boat!! Not only that, but its the first week of school for me so I will be missing the 1st class (woops), so I will have to email my professors when I find out what classes I get to make sure that they will "excuse" my not being there the first class! I hope to god they let me, or I'm SCREWED and don't know what to do! I will have to be buying minutes too though - it's so fricken expensive!! I have decided though that I will do homework out on deck somewhere rather than in the room. We are also getting Android phones in a couple of weeks (how exciting, I've never had anything that technology based before!!!) - anyhow, it's a wifi hotspot while in port, so the day we get back into port from the 2 night cruise is the day I will try to finish all of my homework/hop online for free using my phone as a hot spot. If that works and I can finish in the time we're sitting in port, then I won't have to be raped for wifi money!!

 

[Kidlette]

Hey everyone! I don't know if anyone is still interested, but I was thinking about the bracelets again. Someone on the 2 night sailing posted that there's a company that will do the Disney font and add Mickey heads to the bracelets, so I asked them to send me that info. If not, they still found a place that will do bracelets with a minimum order of only 45 bracelets instead of the 100 minimum I kept finding. In any case, it's looking like it would only be $1 - $2 per person. I will post again when I get all of the info and see if there are enough people interested. If so, then we can order bracelets!!

 

[so_oregon]

Hey y'all....been lurking and busy busy busy......

final count for my group is due tomorrow, but it looks like several of the kids are cancelling...go figure.....

I tried to encourage folks over at cruise critic to get over here and my post was deleted...should have done private messages, I guess. Number of other 10/11 year olds gonna be on the cruise.

so far we have not picked any excursions as I don't know who all is coming. I do know my cabin is changing to a mid-ships one rather than 8000.

if y'all have friends/family who want to come on the cruise, I believe I will be cancelling a cat. 9 and a 4E tomorrow....if not two cat 9s. they are GTY so who knows where on the ship they might be.

Karen

ps - I like the bracelet idea.

 

[so_oregon]

[
Oh and if anybody wanted to stay the night before at a hotel and park your car there for free one of them is called the Vagabond Hotel in San Pedro, Ca. You can look it up on www.tripadvisor.com That's what I always do before I stay at a hotel. We are only staying one night so for the price it sounds good. If it was more then a couple days I probably wouldn't stay.

Great find!!! We are also now at the Vagabond!!

 

[F&A]

I am in the same boat!! Not only that, but its the first week of school for me so I will be missing the 1st class (woops), so I will have to email my professors when I find out what classes I get to make sure that they will "excuse" my not being there the first class! I hope to god they let me, or I'm SCREWED and don't know what to do! I will have to be buying minutes too though - it's so fricken expensive!! I have decided though that I will do homework out on deck somewhere rather than in the room. We are also getting Android phones in a couple of weeks (how exciting, I've never had anything that technology based before!!!) - anyhow, it's a wifi hotspot while in port, so the day we get back into port from the 2 night cruise is the day I will try to finish all of my homework/hop online for free using my phone as a hot spot. If that works and I can finish in the time we're sitting in port, then I won't have to be raped for wifi money!!

make sure when you turn on your phone it is hitting your providers repeater and not the one on he ship. If you hit he one on the ship, you can get hit with roaming charges. They usually don't turn it on until they are out to sea. But I'm paranoid. I take the batteries out of our blackberries once we are on board. Smart phone have a habit of turning themselves on for calendar reminders and other reasons. On most phones you can also go into settings and turn data roaming off to avoid unexpected data roaming charges.

 

[jkrislc]

Jessica,

I think the bracelets are a great idea as it's something we can wear everyday, is relatively inexpensive, and will help us identify each other. I'm definitely in.

There are Internet cares in the port if you need access and it will be much cheaper. The one in PV is at the port, 20 feet from the ship. Just wanted to point out a more affordable option.

Kris

P.S. I'll be holding virtual office hours online between our cruises. Even though my classes don't start until after we return, I still have to hold office hours before then.

 

[googles111]

I have decided though that I will do homework out on deck somewhere rather than in the room. We are also getting Android phones in a couple of weeks (how exciting, I've never had anything that technology based before!!!) - anyhow, it's a wifi hotspot while in port, so the day we get back into port from the 2 night cruise is the day I will try to finish all of my homework/hop online for free using my phone as a hot spot. If that works and I can finish in the time we're sitting in port, then I won't have to be raped for wifi money!!

oops.. sorry I posted my answer 2 times. Not sure how to delete it

 

[googles111]

We are also getting Android phones in a couple of weeks (how exciting, I've never had anything that technology based before!!!) - anyhow, it's a wifi hotspot while in port, so the day we get back into port from the 2 night cruise is the day I will try to finish all of my homework/hop online for free using my phone as a hot spot.:

I just got the Android Incredible last week. I love it so far. There is a lot to learn. I have never had a phone like this before so I am still learning. There are a lot of cool apps. There is one that is like a walkie talkie and you talk to friends. There is also a scanner one I love. If you go to the store and want something you scan it and see if it's cheaper anywhere else. If anybody else has it and has some cool apps let me know. Thanks

Don't you get charged roaming fees if you use wifi? I am confused on how all that works. I remember our last cruise we added on a plan for Mexico. It was around $10 I think. Then we could text and talk. I cancelled it when we got home.

 

[jkrislc]

I just got the Android Incredible last week. I love it so far. There is a lot to learn. I have never had a phone like this before so I am still learning. There are a lot of cool apps. There is one that is like a walkie talkie and you talk to friends. There is also a scanner one I love. If you go to the store and want something you scan it and see if it's cheaper anywhere else. If anybody else has it and has some cool apps let me know. Thanks

Don't you get charged roaming fees if you use wifi? I am confused on how all that works. I remember our last cruise we added on a plan for Mexico. It was around $10 I think. Then we could text and talk. I cancelled it when we got home.

Wifi uses someone else's Internet access (e.g., Starbucks), so it's not using the data network of your carrier. It's a good way to avoid roaming fees when out of your coverage area. For example, I used the Skype app on my phone to call home several times and it only cost a few dollars to have access to the hotel's wifi network (their wireless Internet). What you're paying for at home is 3G or 4G cellular data access.

Kris

 

[so_oregon]

it's official, we have lost a cabin and moved a cabin.

Cabin 8538
Karen
Tabitha, 28
Alex Y. , 30
Noah (age 3)

Jonathan's cabin is not coming at all.

Joanna/Matt
Alyshia, 12
JAsmine, 11

Jessica/Jason
Hailey, 3
Alyssia, 1



Karen

 

[Kidlette]

Cari: I was driving today and it hit me that you asked if I was a KFrogger a while back. Not so much, I listen sometimes in the car (either that or KFI), but I don't really care for the station. If I listen at work I actually stream online to my old Las Vegas station - they're much better.

It sounds like you have a difficult professor. However, I'd talk to him/her after the next class and explain the situation and ask for a make up exercise since you were told you'd be fine. Logic will win out in the end. And if things don't work out in the end, I can help you work through the system to resolve the issue at a higher level, but you won't get anywhere until the semester is over. Kris

Thanks for the tip. I might try and talk to him, but I don't know that it will make a difference. Even 1/2 the students who did have the questions failed because, although the answer was technically correct, it wasn't what he was looking for. About getting it fixed after the class, I think it will depend on what grade I get, and how far away I am from the next grade up. I had a problem with an English teacher a couple of years ago (loooong story, but she was not grading my essays properly and then one day in class started a discussion about homosexuals and then - per something she read in one of my essays - basically started attacking me in class in this discussion - it was insane! She read from one of my essays that my mom is a lesbian, etc. etc. and that's what she was using to 'attack' me in class). It was ridiculous. I filed a formal complain, had the school investigate and speak with other students, and then they let me stop going to her class and meet 1 on 1 with the head of the department to "finish the course." She reviewed everything the other teacher had graded and D's went to A's. Worst experience ever! I guess what I'm saying is, I don't know if this incident is worth it. It was a lot of work (emotionally), and very frustrating. As long as this quiz doesn't drop my letter grade, then I will just let it go. But, thank you for the offer, and if it does drop my grade a letter I will let you know.

make sure when you turn on your phone it is hitting your providers repeater and not the one on he ship. If you hit he one on the ship, you can get hit with roaming charges. They usually don't turn it on until they are out to sea. But I'm paranoid. I take the batteries out of our blackberries once we are on board. Smart phone have a habit of turning themselves on for calendar reminders and other reasons. On most phones you can also go into settings and turn data roaming off to avoid unexpected data roaming charges.

Thanks for the tip! I had NO IDEA! Ryan told me yesterday after I posted that we are not paying for our new phones to be the wifi hotspots. He said its a waste because we wouldn't really use it often.

There are Internet cares in the port if you need access and it will be much cheaper. The one in PV is at the port, 20 feet from the ship. Just wanted to point out a more affordable option.

OK, this is going to show how lame I am, but I don't know what that is. Is it like when you go to the airport and can get on the internet? Do you have to plug in somewhere or something?!?!?

I just got the Android Incredible last week. I love it so far. There is a lot to learn. I have never had a phone like this before so I am still learning. There are a lot of cool apps. There is one that is like a walkie talkie and you talk to friends. There is also a scanner one I love. If you go to the store and want something you scan it and see if it's cheaper anywhere else. If anybody else has it and has some cool apps let me know. Thanks

Don't you get charged roaming fees if you use wifi? I am confused on how all that works. I remember our last cruise we added on a plan for Mexico. It was around $10 I think. Then we could text and talk. I cancelled it when we got home.

Hey Tonya! We are both getting the Samsung Epic 4G android phones! It seemed AMAZING when I was playing with it. I've never used an "ap" but Ryan showed me and ap he downloaded on the store model where you can get Walt Disney World wait times and I was HOOKE! The other thing that got me was the swipe feature. Have you seen that?!?! It's INSANE! I don't know much about aps yet, but I will totally email you when we get them and play with them and I'll let you know if I find any cool ones! (you can email me and let me know too!!) As far as roaming fees, I don't know anything about that (or wifi). I know that we don't pay roaming for phone calls because we pay $x/month to have no roaming charges on our phones - but I don't know about roaming and wifi. Ryan said we're not going to do the internet hotspot thing now, so I guess it doesn't matter. I need to look into what Kris mentioned, and also paying on the ship for internet. It's going to suck, but what can I do. I just hope to god I don't have problems with my teachers excusing me from the first class - I guess we didn't plan that very well!

it's official, we have lost a cabin and moved a cabin.

Karen, I'm sorry to hear that they canceled on you, that's sad. BUT, we are STOKED that you will be there! I will update your cabins on the FE and characters of wonder list.

 

[Kidlette]

Kris - I just thought I'd let you know that I officially applied to San Marcos today! I'll let you know what happens!

 

[jkrislc]

Kris - I just thought I'd let you know that I officially applied to San Marcos today! I'll let you know what happens!

That's awesome; good luck.

As for internet cafes, think of a the computer side of a Kinkos. It's usually a small storefront that has computers hooked up to the internet or offers wireless (wifi) internet access at an hourly rate, usually around $5 per hour or so. They also usually have cheap calls to the US.

Kris

 

[Kidlette]

Hi All - Alrighty, I found a wristband company that has a Disney-type font. Of course the Disney font is copywrited so they call theirs "Waltograph" or something, but it's basically the Disney font!

I can't tell everyone exactly how much bracelets would cost until I have a total count of how many bracelets we would need. I know a few have already said you're interested, but if possible, can everyone please either post or PM me with (a) whether or not you're interested and (b) how many bracelets you would want - that would be great! I know those families who already said they want one are "in," but I also don't want to assume on the number of bracelets needed (e.g. 2 just for adults or also bracelets for kids? I would assume kids too, but you know what they say when you assume! ) Anyhow, I'll compile the info and let everyone know the exact cost. Giving me this info does not commit you, it just gives me the data I need to get pricing. Also, just so everyone knows, if/when we do this what I'll do is give you the cost for the bracelet which you can mail to me with a self-addressed stamped envelope (or you can PayPal it and send me the envelope). Then, when I get the bracelets I'll slip yours into your envelope and send it off to you. This seems easiest. Sound good?!?

Also - I think we talked about it a LONG time ago, but I don't remember what was said. The "official" DISboard color is lime green. Do we want lime green for the sole reason that it's the DISboard color, or, would we be open to a different color? (If we're open to a different color, what would it be)?? I was thinking maybe the cruise line logo colors which are navy blue-ish and red. Or we could do some combination of Mickey's colors like red/yellow or red/black or yellow/black. I don't know - what does everyone think? What I'm looking at getting would have 2 colors. (My personal 2 cents is that I hate lime green, but, I am happy to go with whatever everyone else thinks! )

OK, I'm off to sleep!
Toodles