Disney Wonder March 20th 2011 sailing

[toescat]

My grandaughter 10 asked me how I can stand waiting a whole year for the cruise. I told her waiting for the cruise is half of the fun, as the excitement builds, and builds. We can look at pictures and plan what we are going to do at each port, than we can erase those thoughts and plan more, We did a big family cruise when she was 8 weeks old so this is really her second cruise and she wants us to go to the same places so we can take pictures of her and they can go in her book.

Packing, who has started packing? I have and I bet all of you think is this women nuts. What I do is leave a suit case in my bedroom all year and everytime I think I need to bring this on the cruise I throw it in the suitcase. When our summer weather is gone around the end of October, I will put my clothes I am taking on the cruise in the suitcase like bathing suit, shorts, tanktops. About a month before the cruise my husband and I will sit down and sort thru the everything we have collected and do our first yeah or nea, then about a week before we get serious and pack eveything but the formal wear and we do some weeding. We have never left home and said ok I forgot to pack this and nothing is done at the last minute. I am a planner.

Things that we would never leave without:
Power strip for extra outlets (I could not survive without my power strip.
Quart and gallon size zip lock bags
Garbage Bag for wet towels when we go in port
Tape
Little sewing kit and tiny sissors (can't be big ones)
A little bubble wrap (pack between clothes) for any breakable you purchase

 

[deanna23]

I am also a planner but I don't pack that early. I am hoping to hit the sales at the end of the year for the kids clothes. They grow so fast. I did book our flights to LA and that felt great. Can't wait. deanna

 

[ethanash1]

I am also a planner but I don't pack that early. I am hoping to hit the sales at the end of the year for the kids clothes. They grow so fast. I did book our flights to LA and that felt great. Can't wait. deanna

It does feel great to accomplish something like booking your flight. It makes more "real" that your vacation is coming up. Luckily, I don't have to fly to Orlando this time, since we're only in San Diego...... I can't wait until I pay for the cruise in full, and book my excursions!

 

[toescat]

 

[toescat]

Deanna where are you flying in from? Cyndi is lucky as she lives about an hour and half away from San Pedro. I live between San Francisco and Sacramento which at least 6 hours away and longer if traffic is bad from San Pedro.

We have taken two cruises out of San Francisco and even though it was awesome to be so close to home, we actually prefer leaving out of San Pedro. We love to go to this restaurant that is right on the port and we always plan to be there around 4:00pm so we can sit on the patio eating chips and salsa and drinking a margarita while a Royal Caribbean cruise leaves on their next cruise. All of the lucky passengers are excitingly waving as us , we also are waving back at them. The whole port of call seems to be very lively then with non-cruisers lining the channel at various restaurants waving the cruisers on. My DH always says to me "hon only 24 hours left and that will be us going down the channel" Another thing we do is wake up early so that we can watch our ship come thru the channel in the morning and dock (we stay at a hotel adjacent to the cruise terminal and our room looks out at the terminal and channel.) That really gets me excited; my DH always tells me I am worse than any kid at Christmas. That bad part is now we have to waitt 5 hours before we can board the ship and that is when time stops. Those five hours seem longer than the year we waited to leave for the cruise!

 

[deanna23]

We are flying out of Little Rock, Ar. We are also coming in a day early to make sure nothing happens along the way. I would hate to miss my cruise. I am dying to read my old passporter book but I am trying to wait to alittle closer to time or I will be on pins and needles waiting for March. I know you guys will understand . Deanna

 

[toescat]

Since I am the new cruise Director for our group that is going I am going to start having everyone over each month before we go, to keep everyone excited, not just me. I am going to use my cookbooks that I have purchased on Princess and Carnival and make a different cruise dinner each time we meet. Two of the couples have never cruised before and they have no idea how big the ship is so we are going to show our DVD's that we purchased on past cruises, not Disney but they will get the general idea. As I keep saying half of the fun of the trip is all the planning.

Deanna a 3.5 hour flight is not bad. Are you planning to just hang out at the hotel or go to Disneyland for the day? Part of me wants to go to Disneyland but the other part wants to do our traditional thing with the restaurant The Acapulco Room.

 

[ethanash1]

Deanna and Toescat:

So ladies, you have some great ideas.... I think i'll drive up a day early and start my vacation on Saturday! Maybe we can stay at a Hotel by the port like you, and make the most of it!

By the way, don't forget to decorate your cabin door with magnets. If you need the link for the templates, let me know. I am about to begin my search for magnet paper to start making them. We have 2 side by side cabins on deck 6, 1 for me and my DH, DS6, and DS5. The other for my DD14 and my DM.....
I hope they come out good

 

[deanna23]

Our flight will not get there until 5 pm. So my plans are to get a cab to the hotel ( not sure which one waiting for Disney to pick one that they will pick you up) and fine something to eat. We will be tired because we are 2hrs ahead on time so it will feel like 7 for us. I cannot wait. deanna

 

[toescat]

Cyndi you can get the magnet paper at Staples or Office Max. It is on the isle that has all of the fancy paper, labels, ect. I have found a few templates that I have modify a little but I have not settled on anything yet as I am still searching for several examples.

Deanna, 5:00PM is not bad, but I agree with you with the time difference. We are going to Florida next week I will be loosing 3 hours. We we were in LA Last year for ourcruise we went to the Acapulco Room Restuarant at 3:30 to wait for the RCL cruise to depart and had one two many Margauritas, we had two each. We walked back to our hotel and fell asleep at 5:30pm. But of course we both woke up at 11:00 and my DH watched tv, while I rambled on about our cruise that was leaving in the morning and eventually fell back to sleep and back up at 5:00am to watch our ship come in. I think he fell asleep long before I stopped talking.

 

[bookite]

dh is the one getting all the info on this trip (he grew up an hour from DL so he's got "disney" in his blood, lol!) but *I* am the message board person in the fam so i'm posting here first

we will be travelling w/ the il's who happen to have dc younger than our dc (adopted of course ) so there will be 2 60 ish yo, 2 in our mid 30's and then an almost 9yo ds (turns 9 the day after we return), 7yo dd, 5 yo ds and 3 yo dd.

can't wait to join in the FE fun and to meet new people.

oh we are coming from TN so guess i'll be packing fried chicken or grits to give out...

 

[ethanash1]

dh is the one getting all the info on this trip (he grew up an hour from DL so he's got "disney" in his blood, lol!) but *I* am the message board person in the fam so i'm posting here first

we will be travelling w/ the il's who happen to have dc younger than our dc (adopted of course ) so there will be 2 60 ish yo, 2 in our mid 30's and then an almost 9yo ds (turns 9 the day after we return), 7yo dd, 5 yo ds and 3 yo dd.

can't wait to join in the FE fun and to meet new people.

oh we are coming from TN so guess i'll be packing fried chicken or grits to give out...

Welcome Aboard!! We have a DS 7, and a DS who will be celbrating his 6th -B-day on board!! Sounds like they'll have some sailing friends now..... Is this your first Disney cruise? Check out the Fish Extender thread for some cool ideas....I'm looking at starting mine soon.

 

[ethanash1]

Hi All, is there anyone out there that wants to be in charge of our groups FE? From what I've read, we need someone to keep track of all the participants and cabin numbers, etc. I don't mind doing it, and I am SUPER Organized, so I know I won't let us down. But if there is someone out there who had their heart set on it, by all means, have at it! Or is someone wants to share the responsiblity, let's do it! I'll wait for your responses..... Sweet Disney dreams..

 

[deanna23]

Hi Bookite, We are traveling from AR. It will be our spring break. And it will be my parents( if dad can get his passport. He as been denied twice so far) my DH and 2 DS they are older than your kids. Deanna:

 

[toescat]

Your nominated FE coorinator. Thank you for taking this on. I will get you all of my groups information.

Welcome aboard Bookite. Our groups has lots of boy between 2 and 9 and a few girls 10-12.

 

[MazatlanMonica]

Hello to everyone in this group. I wanted to take a moment to introduce myself. My name is Monica and I live in Mazatlan, Sinaloa Mexico. For anyone on a future Disney cruise to the Mexican Riviera, I am pleased to make myself available to you for any questions about the city of Mazatlan or country of Mexico.

As for myself, I am a resident of both the United States and of Mexico. I speak both English and Spanish fluently and I have sailed on DCL numerous times and have been a lifelong fan of Disney. Let me say right upfront, I am NOT selling anything nor am I affiliated with any business or tour company. I am only here to help and give honest information and opinions in an attempt to make your time in Mazatlan or Mexico a positive experience.

I hope that everyone will welcome me to the discussion and that I can be of assistance to anyone who has a question about my city or country. I will attempt to check the boards once per day, but should I miss a question, please do not hesitate to send me a private message. I look forward to getting to know everyone!

Gracias,
Monica

 

[bookite]

we are tennessee transplants (from out West) so i'm not sure what we could bring from here that wouldn't be offensive lol! i would have thought (before living here for a bit) a magnet or something of the sort w/ the orange "T" on it but i've since learned that at least in some areas that that would be asking for a tongue lashing at the very least, lol!

ethanash, i'm happy to help. i love being involved in organizing stuff as it always seems to help me get to know people better. i don't want to be in charge but will help in any way possible.

a question about the FEs...do you make them or buy them? someone posted a pic of theirs, just wondering the approx dimensions?

tia!

 

[ethanash1]

we are tennessee transplants (from out West) so i'm not sure what we could bring from here that wouldn't be offensive lol! i would have thought (before living here for a bit) a magnet or something of the sort w/ the orange "T" on it but i've since learned that at least in some areas that that would be asking for a tongue lashing at the very least, lol!

ethanash, i'm happy to help. i love being involved in organizing stuff as it always seems to help me get to know people better. i don't want to be in charge but will help in any way possible.

a question about the FEs...do you make them or buy them? someone posted a pic of theirs, just wondering the approx dimensions?

tia!

Bookite...Great! I would love the help.... This is my first time doing FE so hopefully we can have it go smooth with the 2 of us working together...

Let the fun begin!
To answer your question about the FE.... you can make them or buy them. I have seen some on Etsy.com and e-bay as well. I plan on making mine, and if it comes out horrible, then I'll buy one. There's a thread where there is alot of info, but if you look it up on e-bay (type "fish extender" in the search box) i believe the dimensions are on the listings that people have.....

 

[ethanash1]

Hello everyone,

My name is Cyndi, along with "bookite" we will be organizing the FE for our cruise....Yay! Let the fun begin....

If you will be participating, please send me your information at your earliest convenience.

1. Name and names of everyone in your sailing party
2. Ages and gender of everyone in your party
3. Cabin numbers (if you know them already)

Please remember that if you have multiple cabins, divide up your party according to who is in what cabin.

Once I have a list that includes everyone who has expressed interest so far, I can give everyone an idea of what the ages and genders are of everyone so far.. I have read that this is helpful if you will be including gender/age specific treats.
If you haven't already, check out the "Fish Extenders" thread on the board. there are alot of great ideas on what to do...... Talk to you all soon.

Cyndi

 

[ethanash1]

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2473209

HOpefully this link works....