EBPC December 9, 2012!!! Who's in????

[Jeff Spencer]

I am hoping to next week sit down and make a graphic name badge for our trip. I have Photoshop at home.
I also plan to look for some extra plain lanyards. I did have a bunch, but I did give some to my friend who took a group on like 40 kids to Disney this past winter.
Do we have a count of first time cruisers?

Would we want individual names on the badges? Not sure how we would get them passed out. I am thinking generic only for my ease of making, but we do have plenty of time and I am only working part-time right now.

In terms of handing them out, last time I did them we had a meet-n-greet on embarkation day and handed them out then. This also gave the FE coordinator an opportunity to provide updates on last minute cabin changes/assignments/upgrades to the Fish Extender participants.

 

[Jeff Spencer]

So funny! Your DH is the exact opposite of mine! For years he had to wear a suit and tie to work five days a week, and he still dislikes dressing up on his own time.

Thanks to everyone who responded. I might encourage him to take one suitcoat, just to wear in a formal picture, but we'll see how stuffed the suitcase is.

I've typically taken both a tux and a suit primarily because we do take advantage of the Disney photographers on formal/semi-formal nights to get family photos. This year, I'll likely leave the tux at home and just go with a dark suit.

 

[Manon_Paul_Nina]

I believe the FE is still open to anyone who is interested although I'm hoping the group doesn't get too large simply due to limited space in my luggage. Perhaps we'll need to split into two groups if the group gets big. I've read of some FE's that have 18 people and others with 80!

80!!!! OMG i hope not!
Making them myself will be à big job!!!
But i think ours are very cool, there light and flat but à little bit large!!
There are about 40 staterooms now???

Thanks for all the wishes!!!

 

[ChipperMerlin]

Doug & I booked an 11B GTY stateroom this morning and are looking forward to meeting new friends and catching up with old friends. We did the WBPC in January 2011, so are looking forward to new ports of call on this cruise.

Our Disboard name is ChipperMerlin. Doug is my DH and my name is Shirley, but I usually will be found wearing a replica Cast Member name tag that says "Chipmunk."

We would like to participate in the FE - I'll send dthogue a PM later today - and the ornament exchange. We don't need the Order of the Ditch certificate, since we have one from last year's cruise.

I am caught up with reading all the pages - started Sunday afternoon and have enjoyed reading everything.

BTW, when do Platinum cruisers sign up for Palo and excursions?

 

[socababy]

BTW, when do Platinum cruisers sign up for Palo and excursions?

Welcome! Feel free to give us any advice about the PC cruise since you sailed it so recently!

I believe concierge books at the same time as Platinum and I think that is around Aug 11.

 

[Moby]

Last cruise I used a gift bag, but seeing that stocking got me thinking. How much fun it would be use a stocking, like Christmas morning

I'm using a Christmas stocking for our FE!

 

[LindaBabe]

GOOD Morning, Happy Cruisers!

Doug & I booked an 11B GTY stateroom this morning and are looking forward to meeting new friends and catching up with old friends. We did the WBPC in January 2011, so are looking forward to new ports of call on this cruise.

. . . BTW, when do Platinum cruisers sign up for Palo and excursions?

WELCOME ABOARD, Shirley & Doug! Dimples and I remember you with great affection from LAST YEAR's Panama Cruise! We stood in many of the same character lines together It will be just Dimples and me, this time - the other gals are all off doing other things - and by December, my husband hopes to be skiing.

Palo Booking date is August 11.

If you guys are interested in a tour of Cartagena, Columbia, I've arranged for a private tour.
"The Highpoints of the City Tour which begins with a visit to La Popa in order to take in a magnificent full circle panoramic view of the entire city and its environs. We would then do some sightseeing at the Fortress of San Felipe for a photo stop and in order to talk about its history. Then we take slow cruising tours of the neighborhoods of Manga, Getsemaní and Bocagrande before going for a nice walk in the Old City - visiting the Gold Museum, the main plazas - and winding up with some shopping (emeralds, coffee, handcrafts, antiques and leather goods among other things).


The tour lasts for four and a half hours.

For a group of four the price is 85 dollars per person, for six 73 dollars per person, for eight people 65 dollars per person, for ten or more 55 dollars per person. The price includes the cost of transportation in the air conditioned minibus or large bus I mentioned with a driver, entrance fees to La Popa, the fees I pay to the port authority in order to be able to pick you up and leave you off at the docks and, of course, the fee for my services as your private guide.


Children under ten pay 70% of the price for adults."

This lady seems to be very accomplished and I like that she will be the guide herself, rather than a contract person.

If this sounds good to you, Please PM with Cartagena in the subject line. So far, I have 7 adults and 2 children, with a max of 14 people.

Yesterday, I took 41 pounds of wheat based food to the foodbank. It's amazing to me how much wheat invades everything we eat - not just the obvious Chef Boyardee ravioli, but soups, sauce mixes, soy sauce. My pantry looks really REALLY bare.

So, food bank food out - grocery shopping, food in. Then I came home and harvested my one composter. Roast pork in the grill for dinner - yum, followed by a long shower.

Today, I'll harvest the other composter and turn what's left into the first one, and then prune some shrubs. It's not so hot yesterday and today, so we gotta get 'er done. DH is still sanding in the garage, but hopes to prime it tomorrow.

What's your favorite meal on the grill?

Happy Day, all!

 

[skayrobe]

I stopped eating red meat about ten years ago, so I am always looking for a substitute for a grilled hamburger. The turkey burgers I get at Costco are close. I always do lots of grilled veggies. It is my favorite summer meal.

 

[magicmaker1]

I'm using a Christmas stocking for our FE!

Us too!

 

[socababy]

I stopped eating red meat about ten years ago, so I am always looking for a substitute for a grilled hamburger. The turkey burgers I get at Costco are close. I always do lots of grilled veggies. It is my favorite summer meal.

I still eat red meat but to be more healthy, I started eating turkey burgers about a year ago. The kids and I have them about once a week but I don't grill them. I even use a 100 calorie whole wheat bun and the kids don't even care!

My grill hasn't been used in years. Dh did all the grilling and since he passed, it is almost hard for me to even be in the backyard because that was Dh's domain. He designed the whole backyard, making sure the tv was hung at just the right angle that he could see it from the grill! I keep telling myself every summer that I need to get out there and use the grill. Maybe this summer....maybe.

The best thing I have ever had on the grill was salmon! We did an Alaskan cruise on HAL and Dh and his dad went salmon fishing. The each caught one and had it prepared and mailed home. Dh then smoked it on the BBQ. So yummy!

 

[bbangel]

Wow Linda, quite the haul for the food bank! I did that too - cleaned out all the cupboards and donated the food. I think it was the soup that shocked me the most. Who knew there was wheat in there? Your roast pork sounds lovely!

I don't have a grill. Mainly because I'm in an apartment, but partly because my dad was big into his bbq and I can never do it like he did. Maybe when I move I should try some things he never did to take away some of the memories - a pork tenderloin maybe? Great, it is 9:30 in the morning and now I want supper!

 

[magicmaker1]

I still eat red meat but to be more healthy, I started eating turkey burgers about a year ago. The kids and I have them about once a week but I don't grill them. I even use a 100 calorie whole wheat bun and the kids don't even care!

My grill hasn't been used in years. Dh did all the grilling and since he passed, it is almost hard for me to even be in the backyard because that was Dh's domain. He designed the whole backyard, making sure the tv was hung at just the right angle that he could see it from the grill! I keep telling myself every summer that I need to get out there and use the grill. Maybe this summer....maybe.

The best thing I have ever had on the grill was salmon! We did an Alaskan cruise on HAL and Dh and his dad went salmon fishing. The each caught one and had it prepared and mailed home. Dh then smoked it on the BBQ. So yummy!

We still eat red meat but a lot more chicken and turkey, as well as whole grains and less sugar. I've lost 80 lbs and dh has lost 30 over the last 2 yrs. I still have 20 to go before the cruise but it just will NOT budge

 

[Travelbee]

First of all, a big to all the new cruisers!

Connie, could you keep your ears open and see if you can get an inkling of what the cms would *like* to find in their christmas stockings besides the inevitable cash, candy & phone cards?

I got a very PC answer from our hostess, who basically said anything is appreciated.

We would love to know if our previous server and/or head server is still on the Wonder. Our server was Terry Couch and our head server was Witt Tuncharoen (I am so glad I saved the receipts for our tips!...never would have remembered their last name.) Or even our asst. server who was Maggie MacAskill. It would be great to know one way or the other if they are still there or have moved on. Thanks!

Terry and Maggie are no longer with Disney. Our server Lito still keeps in touch with them but he didn’t say if they moved to a different cruise line or simply moved on. Witt is apparently on the Fantasy now. BTW – whoever gave us the suggestion to request Lito, thanks!!! He was wonderful. We also really liked our assistant server Tita from Hungary but she won’t be on the ship during our cruise.

If you can find out if there is access to a photocopy machine on the ship, that would be great. Also if there is a cost - I'm thinking it would be easier to make photocopies of the updated FE list once onboard and I have all the changes.

Guest Services said they will be happy to make the copies for you if you bring it to them.

No Moby - our Claudia is from Chile. She was actually working in Palo, but we bumped into her on the very first day as she was stationed at our emergency assembly point - what a fluke! We did brunch at Palo and requested her as our server, such a treat.

Claudia was our server for brunch last week. She said she’ll be going back to the Magic after this contract is over though. Our favorite Palo server is Toni but he got off the ship for his vacation the same day we boarded.

My daughter is getting married next Saturday so there are things to do around the house still to get prepared.

Congratulations!!

IGT simply means you are guaranteed an inside stateroom on the ship. I would recommend that everyone reconcile themselves that they are getting exactly that and anything better is a wonderful bonus.

I say that because on a previous cruise in a similar situation, we had DIS posters here getting fabulous upgrades (Our party was upgraded to a Cat. 6 with verandah for example) while others got Cat. 11s. I remember one lady being so disappointed about not getting upgraded that she canceled the cruise altogether! Who knows what criteria Disney uses...we tried to figure it out, looking at how many previous Disney cruises families had taken, when people first booked the cruise, whether they were DVC members, etc., and we could find no rhyme or reason. I will say that the three DISers that all happened to be traveling alone that linked their dining reservation with my family also got Cat. 6 verandahs right next to ours so they did keep us together. The way we look at it, we are tickled to death to be doing the cruise regardless of the room we end up in. Anything better than that is Disney magic.

This sounds vaguely familiar. Was this on our med cruise?

Hi everyone. I am working on my FE gifts. Last cruise I embroidered pirate mickey T shirts for all the kids/babies in the FE group and I am going to try and do that again for our cruise. So, if you are signed up to do the FE exchange and you have a kid participating can you PM with your dis name and the size T-Shirt your child will be wearing in Dec. I also posted this on our facebook site so hopefully I will hear from everyone eventually! I know there are a lot of kids participating so I am trying to start early! Below is a picture of some that I made last time. I may/may not do the same thing!

This is so cute and creative!! I will definitely be sending you a PM.

Lastly – I want to chime in on the lanyard issue. I’d prefer making horizontal name tags that fit into the Disney lanyards as well. We have 20+ lanyards at home that I already don’t know what to do with them!

 

[dededisney]

Terry and Maggie are no longer with Disney. Our server Lito still keeps in touch with them but he didn’t say if they moved to a different cruise line or simply moved on. Witt is apparently on the Fantasy now. BTW – whoever gave us the suggestion to request Lito, thanks!!! He was wonderful. We also really liked our assistant server Tita from Hungary but she won’t be on the ship during our cruise.

Travelbee...thank you so much for checking about the status of those servers. Too bad none of them are around anymore, but I'm sure we'll get a great team.

 

[bbangel]

Glad you enjoyed having Lito as a server! I'm torn between requesting to have him again or taking the opportunity to meet another new person...but taking the risk of a not so great server. Decisions, decisions.

 

[Chinook]

I stopped eating red meat about ten years ago, so I am always looking for a substitute for a grilled hamburger. The turkey burgers I get at Costco are close. I always do lots of grilled veggies. It is my favorite summer meal.

I made this recipe the other day and even my meat loving DH loved these.

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/spicy-...burger&e8=Quick Search&event10=1&e7=Home Page

Very tasty!!

 

[magicmaker1]

Hi everyone. I am working on my FE gifts. Last cruise I embroidered pirate mickey T shirts for all the kids/babies in the FE group and I am going to try and do that again for our cruise. So, if you are signed up to do the FE exchange and you have a kid participating can you PM with your dis name and the size T-Shirt your child will be wearing in Dec. I also posted this on our facebook site so hopefully I will hear from everyone eventually! I know there are a lot of kids participating so I am trying to start early! Below is a picture of some that I made last time. I may/may not do the same thing!

Those are adorable!!! I wish I had a young one to bring along because I want one .

 

[paulcrsb]

FYI...Disney Port Adventures for Cartagena are up!

 

[LindaBabe]

Those are adorable!!! I wish I had a young one to bring along because I want one .

I can definitely agree with that sentiment!

Chinook, definitely will try that recipe - I haven't had much luck getting my husband to try meatless.

 

[skayrobe]

Thanks for the recipe I will try these this week. I really try to experiment with our meals but seem to make the same meals over and over.

I am trying to follow a slow carb meal plan. Lots of beans! This recipe fits right into my lifestyle change (I try to avoid the word diet). But am down 14 pounds.