EARLY CHECK IN: December 15th, 2007 - Seven night Western - 12/15/07

[yearbook50]

I didn't get mine

I'm sure its in the mail!

BTW, on 12 hour flights...try to get that aisle seat! My legs were killing me on the flight home from Cape Town b/c I was stuck by the window. It was so hard to start walking when we landed in London.

 

[Kadorto]

I didn't get mine

Don't feel too bad...we haven't received ours either

 

[cristit14]

I didn't get mine yet either.

 

[kcwildcat]

Hi everyone, it's been a while since I've been on the boards. Summer is over and school is back in session (at least her in Kansas it is) and thoughts turn to the Cruise. I'ts hard to believe that it's less then 4 months a way now. It seemed so far away in Spring 06 when we booked. Laura is so excited. She was telling her teacher all about it the other day at registration. She will miss 3 1/2 days of school but hey it's first grade and I can imagine she will miss much that week before Christmas. Hope everyone had a wonderful summer.

Patty

 

[feinfam]

Hi everyone -
it's been ages since I last posted. So many changes on this thread - babies growing up (love the pics), new families added (welcome!), some dropping out (we'll miss you - have fun on your next cruise!), other fabulous vacations planned, etc.

School just started today for my DD11, and DD18 left last weekend to study abroad for a year. We had such a sad ending to our summer - in July, my Dad was killed by a motorist while he was out cycling. He was a total exercise fanatic - he was retired, and cycling and yoga were his two main forms of exercise. My brother and I are taking care of all the things that need to be taken care of, but it's just a sad time. I'm glad the DD's are back in school and with their friends.

This weekend, there's a memorial bike ride in his honor put on by some of his friends from the cycling club, and they're expecting hundreds of people - my family and my brother's family will drive out to be with everyone (some of us riding, some just helping). The ride is to promote safety and honor fallen cyclists - keep us in your prayers that weekend.

- Kathryn

 

[lunsusie]

Kathryn, please accept our sincere condolences.

 

[Magic Family]

Hello All! We're joining you on the 12/15 Western cruise!

It's our first cruise...me, DS14 (turning 15 on the cruise--12/17), DD12 (almost 13, 1/29), and my mom. Leaving DH at home because he's just not into it. We bring Mom instead because she loves it as much as we do.

My very last day of law school is the Sunday before we leave!! This cruise will be a much-needed break before I return home to study for the February bar exam...bar prep classes will begin on 12/27.

I've been laid up for the entire summer because I had extensive knee surgery in June. These boards have been a wonderful way to pass the time and have only heightened the level of anticipation.

Looking forward to sailing with you...

 

[lunsusie]

Welcome aboard, Magic Family!

 

[cristit14]

Kathryn , I am so sorry about your dad.

Welcome Magic Family!!!!!


Stacie, where are you? Come back and play.

 

[Pinkprincessmom]

Kathryn, I am so sorry about your dad also. I hope the memorial ride goes well.

Welcome Magic family. What an appropriate name.

Cruise time is just getting closer and closer

 

[cristit14]

So, what is everyone doing for formal night? I asked DH whether he wanted to do a tux like last cruise or just a suit this time. He said he wanted to do a tux again. So, now I need to find one for DS again. Last cruise I bought him one off of ebay since it was cheaper than renting one for him. My mom has already told DD that she would buy her a dress for her birthday to wear on formal night. So that leaves me. I don't think the one I wore last cruise fits very well anymore, so I need to go shopping.

 

[feinfam]

We're back from the memorial bike ride in my Dad's honor. It was great - there was a good turnout, reporters from the paper came to take pictures and do a write-up in the local paper - a good way to remember him.

We got our booklet in the mail - anyone have suggestions for shore excursions? This is our first Caribbean trip, and everything looks like fun (particularly in Cozumel).

Hope you had a good long weekend, everyone!

 

[disneycruise05]

Hello everyone!

Just checking in to see what everyone's plans were for shore excursions. My parents and I are going to probably going to do our own thing in Key West. Maybe rent an electric car or something to visit Hemmingway's house, the Pirate museum, and a couple of restaurants. For Grand Cayman, I really want to do the 2-tank scuba dive. Since my parents aren't certified, I'll be doing it by myself. Not quite sure what my parents are looking at doing. My mom can't decide. In Cozumel, my mom and I really want to do the Mexican cuisine cooking class. I've been asking for awhile if anyone on the DIS has done this, but it looks like nobody has. Lastly, we'll probably just relax at Serenity Bay and maybe do some snorkeling.

What about y'all?

 

[dutch_girl_scout]

Hey all! I'm back from the missing. I had been MIA for a while because the summer was hard on our business (too many growing pains) and we weren't sure for awhile that we were going to make ithe cruise happen but, I've made the final payment and we are officially cruising with all of you!!!

Kathryn--I'm so sorry about the loss of your father. I'm glad the bike ride was successful, what a nice way to honor him and raise awareness. My DH had bought a little motorcyle earlier in the year and I made him sell it because I worried about his safety. People just don't pay attention to bikes, motorcycles, and mopeds.


MagicFamily--Welcome! Our kids are close to the same age, DD will be 13 on 2/6, DS is 15 now, will be 16 on 4/25. Let me know if they want to e-mail or IM before the cruise. We have a website set up for the cruise. The info about it is in the very first post of this thread.

Cristi--Formal night, YUCK!, I hate dressing up. DH and DSs will be wearing their suits. DD is wearing her "prom" dress from last time unless I feel like torturing myself and take her dress shopping. I hated the dress that I had for last time so I'll probably have to go shopping for me. Maybe I'll get lucky and find something right away (yeah right!).

Excursions--We want to be beach bums this time, not sure what Andy will think of the sand, should be interesting. We also looked at doing the submarine thing on Grand Cayman. Somewhere my kids found out that there is a Ripley's museum in Key West. They want to pay money to go there. Not sure they'll convince us to go but they might.


Anyway, that's enough blabbing for now, we are REALLY excited to be going and hope the next few months fly by!

 

[cristit14]

Stacie, I am so glad you are still coming!

I don't mind dressing up for formal night. We never dress up around here, so it is nice for a change. I found a dress the other day for me. I could definately do it for semi formal night and I think it would be nice enough for formal night also if I decided to go that way.

We haven't decided on excursions yet. Key West we will probably just do something on our own. Cozumel there are a few that I am looking at. Grand Cayman maybe a snorkeling excursion.

 

[cristit14]

Hey! Look at my ticker! We are in the double digits now!

 

[cristit14]

Next weekend we can start making ressies!

I am thinking about dinner at Palo on Wed night. It seems like that was my least favorite menu last time. I didn't really care for the last night a lot either, but I don't think I want to go to Palo the last night onboard.

We are thinking about doing Eco-Park & Snorkel in Cozumel and Nautilus Undersea Tour & Reef Snorkel in Grand Cayman. Not sure though. Key West we will do something on our own and CC we tend to be beach bums. I REALLY want to make it to Serenity Bay this time though. We haven't made it there yet on our other cruises.

 

[yearbook50]

Key West
We are going to do that on our own - mostly hanging out at Hog's Breath or The Rum Barrel or Sloppy Joe's. We may do the White Knuckle Thrill Boat

Grand Cayman
We're debating on hanging out at the beach or the sea trek excursion.

Cozumel
Maybe Power Snorkel Treasure Hunt or Jungle Hike Expedition or Jeep Exploration

Castaway Cay
Lazy Beach Bums

 

[Magic Family]

Hard to believe our window for excursions is right around the corner...not until 10/1 for us newbies, but still VERY CLOSE!

Key West--on our own. A friend of mine just returned from KW. They rented scooters and had a blast! She also said she went to an aquarium ($10 per) and it was really nice. As for the Ripley's museum, I think that would be fun...only because I went to one when I was a kid and thought it was really cool (tourist trap, of course...but oh so cool for kids).

GC--no idea. My kids were emphatic that they did not want to swim with stingrays. I differentiated the circumstances of Steve Erwin's death, but they weren't budging. So, no clue. At this point, I'm even considering staying on the ship. Any suggestions?

Cozumel--I am really interested in Xcaret, but I don't know if it justifies the 3+ hours in travel time. I'm also considering Paradise Beach on our own, but I worry about the taxi ride since we won't have an adult male with us.

The closer it gets, the more I entertain the idea of never leaving the ship.

 

[Kadorto]

Hello everyone!

Just checking in to see what everyone's plans were for shore excursions. My parents and I are going to probably going to do our own thing in Key West. Maybe rent an electric car or something to visit Hemmingway's house, the Pirate museum, and a couple of restaurants. For Grand Cayman, I really want to do the 2-tank scuba dive. Since my parents aren't certified, I'll be doing it by myself. Not quite sure what my parents are looking at doing. My mom can't decide. In Cozumel, my mom and I really want to do the Mexican cuisine cooking class. I've been asking for awhile if anyone on the DIS has done this, but it looks like nobody has. Lastly, we'll probably just relax at Serenity Bay and maybe do some snorkeling.

What about y'all?

I'll probably go on the two tank dive in GC as well. Just finished getting my advanced open water this afternoon. My first night dive last night was a bit scary but a lot of fun