"Double Dip Delight" Alternate Western 09/27/08

[tig82174]

Marsha--I am so jealous that you get to cruise soon. Even with 14 days I still want more (they could have turned the ship around and sailed right back for antoher 14 days and I would have been happy).

We've had the same issues with iron ons that Eriks mentions (we use them often to make party favour t-shirts; it makes it easier to keep up with a group of kids at the bowling alley, etc. if they all match). We did not orde rthem, but the cafe press Ts did look nice. Personally I would like lime green and be more inclined to order them than white ones.

I LOVED the custom lanyards from our last cruise. I would absolutely be on the lanyard team for this one if people would like that. I would even be willing to head up the ordering, etc. (i'd have to get with Ken to see where he gets them), but I can't make custom name badges like we had as I do not own a printer (we have decided we are cursed and no printer will ever last more than a month for us). I can print a bit here and there at the office, but not that much. I could design them and send them over to soemone else to print though.

I have access to a color printer that I could use to print name badges for lanyards if we decided to go that route...Jason and I would volunteer to be on the lanyard team, too. Maybe lime green lanyards (in honor of the DIS) that said "Double Dip Sept. 2008" on them would be cool!

 

[NHdisneylover]

I like the Lime Green idea! Maybe they could say "Double Dip Delight" and the dates--to honour the name of this thread.

 

[NHdisneylover]

Hi All,
I am starting to work on catching up on all your posts and getting to know some of you better (I recognize some from trip reports I have enjoyed). I see that way back in February some of you were thinking about the excursions to the ruins in Costa Maya so I thought I'd thrwo in my two cents on that. This past September we broke down and actaully did an excursion (the only one we have ever booked on ANY cruise--DCL or other). We did the excursion to Kohunlich (the larger set of ruins). It was FANTASTIC and worth every penny. I highly recomend it. Also, we did not visit a school, but our tour guide (a retired school teacher) would have been thrilled to receive supplies I am sure. He asked everyone to not open food they would not be eating in the boxed lunches and to leave the extras on the seats (not mixed in with trash)as he would take it to the school for kids who would really appreciate it. I would be happy to share more about this excursion (even photos if I can figure out how to) if anyone wants me to.

 

[Scoobypop]

Marsha--I am so jealous that you get to cruise soon. Even with 14 days I still want more (they could have turned the ship around and sailed right back for antoher 14 days and I would have been happy).

We've had the same issues with iron ons that Erik mentions (we use them often to make party favour t-shirts; it makes it easier to keep up with a group of kids at the bowling alley, etc. if they all match). We did not order them, but the cafe press Ts did look nice. Personally I would like lime green and be more inclined to order them than white ones.

I LOVED the custom lanyards from our last cruise. I would absolutely be on the lanyard team for this one if people would like that. I would even be willing to head up the ordering, etc. (i'd have to get with Ken to see where he gets them), but I can't make custom name badges like we had as I do not own a printer (we have decided we are cursed and no printer will ever last more than a month for us). I can print a bit here and there at the office, but not that much. I could design them and send them over to someone else to print though.

Same here--14 days--I don't know how I can ever go back to the 7 day now. Arrgghh, the torture of being back to work after the trip. But being on this board is helping with the depression--at least a bit!

Great ideas from everyone, and yeah, the lanyards we had were cool, so if Erik or Hadley could find out the info, I think everyone would be pleased with the results.

Also--it was in another post, but yes, Rachel the cruise director mentioned the Disers in the first night Welcome Aboard show as well.

 

[brady961]

ok DIS meets and Activities/Interests pages are up. I did it in two pages as so many interests.

again if anyone sees any corrections needed let me know <G>

 

[brady961]

Same here--14 days--I don't know how I can ever go back to the 7 day now. Arrgghh, the torture of being back to work after the trip. But being on this board is helping with the depression--at least a bit!

Great ideas from everyone, and yeah, the lanyards we had were cool, so if Erik or Hadley could find out the info, I think everyone would be pleased with the results.

Also--it was in another post, but yes, Rachel the cruise director mentioned the Disers in the first night Welcome Aboard show as well.

WOW then that means on another cruise, Christian the cruise director also acknowledged all the DISers in the crowd. Way cool that DCL/crew know we exist and cruise esp in our lime green <G>

 

[lenzs4]

Hi All,
I am starting to work on catching up on all your posts and getting to know some of you better (I recognize some from trip reports I have enjoyed). I see that way back in February some of you were thinking about the excursions to the ruins in Costa Maya so I thought I'd thrwo in my two cents on that. This past September we broke down and actaully did an excursion (the only one we have ever booked on ANY cruise--DCL or other). We did the excursion to Kohunlich (the larger set of ruins). It was FANTASTIC and worth every penny. I highly recomend it. Also, we did not visit a school, but our tour guide (a retired school teacher) would have been thrilled to receive supplies I am sure. He asked everyone to not open food they would not be eating in the boxed lunches and to leave the extras on the seats (not mixed in with trash)as he would take it to the school for kids who would really appreciate it. I would be happy to share more about this excursion (even photos if I can figure out how to) if anyone wants me to.

I am interested in info on this tour - my parents went and loved it - but have no memory of the details!!!

 

[Donald & Daisy Duck]

We are interested in the tour also! School supplies sound like a great idea! My kids will love putting them together.
Count us in on the lanyards and tshirts too!
Tig...I wanted to ask if you can order just a few tshirts with the same design at cafepress? I was going to make shirts for our upcoming 07 cruise, but if cafepress is the better way to go then that's what I'll do. It would just be for my family and friends though.
Marsha - website looks terrific!

 

[tig82174]

Well because Ken (the guy who designed the lanyards and name badges for the repo cruises) is still aboard the Magic now because he did the crossing AND the first 11 night.....I wasn't able to contact him....but I did look online last night at various companies who do custom lanyards and I found a BUNCH of sites that look easy to deal with so I'm pretty sure that between Jason and I we could probably head that project up. I even found a bunch of sites that make GREEN lanyards...which would be cool since green is apparently the color of choice for the DIS and this thread. It looks like the lanyards would range in price between $1 and $2.50 depending on how many we bought, what style/quality they were, etc. etc. I don't think that's too unreasonable at all! Like I said on the repo I think we had a few hundred made so that every person in every cabin could have one....and then a group of about a dozen or so of us who were willing and able to underwrite the cost just all chipped in a set amount to cover the cost of it and everyone got one. If people on this thread seem amenable to doing something similar I'm definitely willing to volunteer to head up that project.

(and obviously the more people who chip in as part of the "lanyard team", then the less each individual contribution would be)

 

[NHdisneylover]

Hmmm. I just typed a long post only to have it suddenly vanish so here I go again.

There is some interest in ruins so I will share my two cents. As anyone who was on the repo thread with me can attest I am very long winded. Sorry about that--feel free to skim or even skip my posts if you like . Here is my first post about the Kohunlich excursion (I am going to have to take it in chunks and we do have the time).

The first decision we had to make was which ruins to tour. There are basically three options: Tulum (out of Cozumel), Chaccohoben (out of Cosat Maya) or Kohunlich (also out of Costa Maya).

TULUM--I have been to these many, many years ago. The pyramid is nice and this was absolutely built by Mayans who understood the location, location, location real estate principal as it is in the most lovely of settings. My memory (which may be wrong) is that there is very little here other than the main pyramid. When I traveled there as a teen we were able to climb the steps, but my research indicates that is no longer allowed. Why we chose not to go to Tulumn:
1. You can't climb the pyramid. Please know I understand the reasons why not and in fact I applaud this step to protect a cultural treasure. However, I also know climbing the pyramid will be fun for my kids and really cement the experience in their minds.
2. There isn't much else there besides the pyramid (and shops--it's pretty touristy).
3. This is an easy day trip from both Cozumel and Cancun. So, the odds of us getting there at some other time are higher than for those near Costa Maya.
4. There are many more options of things to do when not on an excursion in Cozumel than in Costa Maya.

Why we chose Kohunlich over Chaccohoben:
Chaccohoben is unexcavated. This indicated to me there would be much less to see htan at Kohunlich. I did quite a bit of research online which seemed to confirm this. I have not seen Chaccohoben in person but I can say that Kohunlich was HUGE with tones of buildings, ball court, etc to explore. Very much an entire Mayan town and not just a few ruins so I really feel we made the correct call here.

Okay, our guests are already 3 minuites late so I better post this NOW and finish later.

 

[jcemom]

Do you know how long it takes to get to Kohunlich vs Chacchoben? I'd like to go to the more interesting of the two, but don't want to drag the kids along on a really long ride there and back. TIA

 

[NHdisneylover]

I think both sets of ruins are pretty far (but I am not positive), but the Kohunlich ones are further. BUT there the kids can actually climb a pyramid, etc. Our kids were 7 and 9 and enjoyed the excursion. We do homeschool and did a unit on the Mayans as prep for the trip. I don't think kids that young would ge tmuch out of it without some pre trip prep of what you are going to see and why (I can recomend a coule of picture books and a good coloring book which would be enough I htink to give an introduction).

We got off the ship pretty early and were herded to 4 buses waiting for us. They only filled each bus about 2/3 full and each bus had a driver and tour guide. The busses were nice, clean motor coaches. They are air conditioned, but not to the very low levels we tend to keep temps at in the U.S. We felt comfortable but did not need a jacket or sweater (which I usually do). There was a restroom on the bus but we did not use it so I cannot report on its condition. Oh, and we were each handed a cold water bottle on entering the bus and told there were plenty more so drink as much as we wanted. It was a HIOT day and even hotter 90 miles inland (think hovering around 100 and HUMID--we are New Englanders who do not like heat, but we knew to expect something like this so it was okay).

The ride was about an hour and a half through a very rural part of Mexico (most of it only a few miles north of hte border with Belize). I think it is very eye opening for children (and many adults) to see poverty to the level we drove past. Our guide (a former school teacher who clearly REALY loved what he is doing and wanted to share this history with us) started the ride by handing out a sheet of information on the ruins (including a coloring page which was a depiction of a Mayan ball player he had made) and making a 15 minute talk introducing us to what we would see. He let us know to expect another talk towards the end of the ride and hten we entertained ourselves. I had brought along some pretles and cookies form our Disney Resort gift shop to munch on and asked if we could eat on the bus. That was okay (in fact lunch was on the bus on the way back). I knew we were in for a long ride and ad packed my son's L-max and a coriong book for him and a novel for my daughter. The kids had been prewarned that we were in for a long ride and did just fine with it.

 

[zweihund]

Happy Saturday everyone!

I am down for lanyards - I think that would be great! Especially because I don't look so hot in lime green that way we could all spot one another for all 7 days! And if we each made a little card (or someone printed some up) with our names and DISnames, that would be GREAT. I'm great with faces but so bad with names.

I haven't looked too much into the excursions, but I definitely want to do one of the ruins tours. Likely in Costa Maya....I think we might stick with a beach side bar in Cozumel. Or Margaritaville! But then again I have 16 months to make up my mind and I haven't even gotten my Passporter yet! Hadley, the ones you are talking about sound right up our alley.

I suppose I should ask DH's opinion before I plan too much?

 

[NHdisneylover]

Go lanyards, go lanyards It did make it easy to spoy DISsers (though not everyone wore them. Dave for example just doesn't wear stuff around his neck, but MOST did). Ken (the lanyard king on the repo) made custom name badges for everyone to put in theirs. Each badge had the person's first name in nice big easy to read while speaking to someone letters as well as the DISboard name associated with that person (since I am the only poster in our family all of ours had NHDisneylover as that name). it really made figuring out who was who so much easier on the first day.

 

[jcemom]

NHdisneylover, thank you, thank you!!

We homeschool also. By cruise time DS then 14 will be in 9th grade and DD then 5, almost 6, will be in 1st grade. I was planning to start off our year studying Mayan civilizations next year. We start in mid August so it would give us just over a month to learn about it. We're starting Spanish this fall, so hopefully after a year of it the kids will be able to try out a few words or phrases. I think they might find that kind of fun.

We can certainly keep entertained for an hour and a half. It takes us longer than that to get to the airport here, LOL. I was worried it was something like a three hour drive. One and a half is just fine.

If you wouldn't mind PMing me with your recommendations for books and such I'd be very grateful! Thank you again!

----------

As for lanyards, we'd be in for that! It's a great idea!

 

[NHdisneylover]

Oh how fun that we are not the only homeschoolers! I will have to dig out the books. If I haven't sent you the info. in a couple of weeks then remind me please (sometime after next Sunday when my son has his dance recital--everything is all about that right now!).

 

[nenner1]

Thank you NHdisneylover for your insight into the ruins!!

I am probably all alone in the anti-lanyard crowd...ONLY because I hate wearing fabric around my neck.
(I'm always getting in trouble at work for losing my badge cause it's just on a clip....)

I can't tolerate the lei's for too long either...(long enough to get through the sail away party, tho)

 

[scoutsmom99]

Hey All, I hope everyone is having a great weekend. The weather is cruddy here and my plans for tonight were canceled as a result The lanyards sound like fun Marsha the website looks just awesome thanks for putting it all together. Well I was bored tonight so I put together a design for the cruise that I'm thinking mom and I will put on our door:

 

[Scoobypop]

Thank you NHdisneylover for your insight into the ruins!!

I am probably all alone in the anti-lanyard crowd...ONLY because I hate wearing fabric around my neck.
(I'm always getting in trouble at work for losing my badge cause it's just on a clip....)

I can't tolerate the lei's for too long either...(long enough to get through the sail away party, tho)

I also was with Dave in that I didn't wear the lanyard often, but a couple of times, sailaway of course, and some casual breakfast or lunch or afternoon throughout the week, but not often. Others wore them ALL the time, so even if you're anti-lanyard, it's definitely nice to at least have one. The little name badges Erik described are an awesome memento as is the whole lanyard itself. Just a really nice, thin almost shoelace material, not one of the larger ones like the Castaway Club ones they give out. So it's not too bothersome and you won't feel weighed down or otherwise encumbered.

 

[rkandmjsmommy]

WOW, this is going to be an AMAZING cruise!!!!!!!! I LOVE LOVE LOVE the lanyard idea, I would be willing to contribute money and give them out, I love doing that kind of stuff. Also love the school supply idea. The website looks so awesome, hopefully will get some pics to Marsha soon!! We are trying to get our best friends to come with us.

Have a GREAT weekend