Feb. 21, 2004 Eastern Cruise

[whytcrystal]

Hi all-
Life is getting full of small miracles. Up until now only the women going on the cruise have been excited. Yesterday the men have started. My DS (18) is starting to ask for the countdown almost hourly. We did argue last night about clothes. He wants to pack himself because "I'm not a kid anymore mom!" I pretty much told him isince he is giving me a hard time I am cancelling. AS IF!! He gave in. I explained to him that it would be a great disappointment to me if I had to worry about his appearance. (He loves wearing suits though). I want to say for the record I am not being mean but he has to get used to women in his life playing him like a fiddle. :0)

I am hosting a get together next week to go over cruise docs and plan who wants dinner at Palo's, High tea and that stuff. I am even scanning the documents onto a CD so I can put them on the computer and am then going to use a laser pointer. Control Freak???? Maybe just a bit!!!

 

[woody64]

whytcrystal: Tell DS the sooner he learns who makes the rules/has all the control

(except the remote!) the easier his life will be. My FIL is always amazed at the things I ahve learned after 15 years of marriage that he kids took him much longer to learn.

Maybe you can also do a nice PowerPoint presentation for the docs. Then you can email it to all of us(except Gina and Gayl who have the docs already filled out ) to use as a guide.

Currently 1 air temp(Yes you southerners, 1 ) and light snow so watch out those of you east of here. Boy are those umbrella drinks going to taste good.

By the way, who is up for one of the beer tastings?

Maybe we can get a group together to do this.

woody

 

[whytcrystal]

Bruce-

I am contimplating that one but am doing the Wine Tasting. DH (David) is anxious to do a bridge tour now that they are having them again.

Well I better get back to work, HEY! I only have 11 more work days! I work 4 10 hr days.

 

[christinou]

I want to do both wine and beer tasting.......
I like the idea of a group doing the tasting together that should be fun.....
Christine

 

[bassoongirl]

Bruce,

You can probably count my husband in on the beer tasting. He is a fan of British beers. I only like lagers, but I will be happy to come along and watch!

Christy,

Your cruise presentation sounds like a lot of fun! My family is finally getting excited about the cruise too! My kids had a snow day on Tuesday, and my daughter and son watched the DCL video twice! Now they ask me everyday how many days are left until the cruise. Can you believe it is only three weeks away!

What do all you experienced cruisers think is the best evening to make a reservation for dinner at Palo? As I understand it, Sunday is formal night, Tuesday is Tropical night, Thursday is semi-formal night. Would it be better to go for Monday or Wednesday? Thanks for your help!

Gayl

 

[christinou]

The Palo question is such a tough one to answer, I would look at the menu and decide which one is the least appealing to me.
During pur 3 night cruise we went to Palo instead of Animator's Palette, so I know I want to try AP this time.
Christine

 

[whytcrystal]

Gayl-
I am going to wait to see what our ratation is before I choose. I want to go during a Parrot Cay night, although I like doing the first rotation of resturaunts. I am hoping for a LAP rotation. If that is the case I will go to Palo's Thursday. I think I am going to take someone's advice and Make a late Palo ressie and Go to dinner for just appetizers at 6.

 

[woody64]

Gayl-I think the others are right in that you want to see what your rotation is before you decide. You shouldn't miss your first rotation thru AP as they have the color changing show. We also will wait and see once we know our rotation.

Last year was great as we did an early 6:00 ressie. This way we still were able to go to shows with the kids. It was also sunset which was great because we had a nice window table. We also liked it because they were not full and we received a lot of attention.

We had Marco as our server. He was AWESOME! He brought us more than we ordered and had us try different things. After the souffle(sp?) he shows up with a giant(2' tall) creation out of aluminum foil. It is done up as a swan. Inside were 2 souffles for our 2 DS's. He knew we had 2 kids so he had this done up. We didn't ask for it or anything. Everybody stared at us as we left thinking we must be special for this creation. That happened all the way back to the cabin. It was a great feeling and topped a great dinner for just my wife and I(plus we had 2 more souffle's).

I have heard Marco is back on board so we will definately ask for him this time as well.

woody

 

[whytcrystal]

Hi have dreams about that souffle (sp?) AND the chocolate lava cake. Do you think they have a cookbook with these recipes? I LOVE to cook (as you will see by my size :0) )

I never thought about 6pm being sunset. The last cruise we went on was 9/2002 so sunset was a bit later.

 

[bassoongirl]

Thanks for the advice about Palo reservations! We will wait to see what our dining rotation is before we decide on a night for Palo. I definitely want to try that chocolate souffle! I have heard so many good things about it!

Christy,

A while ago, I saw the recipe for the chocolate lava cake posted on the big board. I don't know if you want to try to search for it or just ask on the board again. That's another dessert I am looking forward to trying!

Gayl

 

[woody64]

Christy-the recipe was also in an issue of Disney magazine. We have it somewhere and I will try to find it. It is a dessert to die for.

My kids can't wait for Scoops and Mickey ice cream bars after dinner.

woody

 

[whytcrystal]

On our last cruise my BIL couldn't find a dessert on the menu that he liked ( Imagine that!!!), so Elle 'slipped him a Mickey". That's what he is waiting for this time around too.

 

[whytcrystal]

On our last cruise my BIL couldn't find a dessert on the menu that he liked ( Imagine that!!!), so Elle 'slipped him a Mickey". That's what he is waiting for this time around too.


Woody-
Don't go out of your way looking for that recipe but I appreciate it.

 

[woody64]

whytcrystal-I'll find it I just don't know how quickly. It gives me something warm to think about.

High today is supposed to be 2 which would be the lowest high temperature on this date in 133 years of weather tracking. Come on 2 or lower, if its going to be this cold it may as well set a record. That's saying something for Chicago!

On a positive note, the beer in the garage is really cold(but the Diet Coke is starting to freeze).

Have a warm one,

woody

 

[bassoongirl]

Hello!

Today, I finally looked at my friend's pictures from her November cruise on the Magic. It looked like a wonderful trip! Her family stayed in the Walt Disney Suite. The suite looked very roomy and classy. My friend said they enjoyed the suite, especially the grand piano. She did say that they did not spend a lot of time in their suite, so I don't know if it would be worth all that money. Although, I would love to try it once! I also enjoyed looking at her pictures of St. Thomas and Castaway Cay. It looked so sunny and warm there! Just think, four weeks from today we will be at Castaway Cay! I need to keep thinking warm thoughts to get through all this cold weather!

Gayl

 

[whytcrystal]

Gayl-
What a why to whet the appetite (or tease) for our cruise. I bet the sky looked bluer the clouds looked whiter and the water was a deep tourquiose. AHHHH. I just received a message from my friend who lives in St. Thomas. She is visiting here. I'll ask her to see a shrink when I talk with her. The temp tomorrow and Monday is going to hit 32 and sometime next week we are going to reach 36. Tomorrow we will be getting together with friends to watch the superbowl. Go Pats!! Well, I am doing some extra-deep cleaning before we leave and today is the yucky one, the baths and kitchen so ta-ta for now.

 

[woody64]

whytcrystal-send me some of your heat. We are expecting a high in the single digits again!

Just think, 3 weeks from now we will we be on board at Scoops having ice cream and a fruity umbrella drink.

Bring on the sun!

woody

 

[bassoongirl]

Hello!

My friend who went on the DCL cruise in November asked me to buy her a DCL sweatshirt jacket ($75!!) when we are on the ship. She said she debated about buying the jacket on her cruise and decided against it and is now sorry that she didn't buy it. I have no problem spending other people's money!

She also asked my to give a small gift to her serving team - Putu and Adrienne (I think). I am happy to do that for her! My husband cannot fathom that people can form such a bond in one week with their waiters and waitresses. From what I read on the boards, I can see that happening. I just hope that our dinner group gets a good serving team! If we don't, I think it will be a little disappointing! But I know we will have fun together!

Gayl

 

[av01bps]

I am up for the wine tasting for sure! I feel like I have been lurking on the boards- it's hard to write at work- and "miss" you all.

A few questions-

How late in the evening can we make a Palo reservation? We don't mind eating appetizers with the gals and dinner at 9 p.m. (or later)?

Do we go to St Thomas or St Marteen first?

Has anyone given Bonine to a 77 lb and a 47 lb person (hannah and Kate's weights?)

I am reading some cranky reports about the spa- say it isn't so!
Amy

 

[PhotoLisa]

You may want to consider purchasing Sea-bands at Walgreens or similar before you get to the port. Don't purchase onship as they are much more expensive there.

On our first cruise in 7/2001, we passed through Tropical Storm Barry and we were rocking and rolling for a bit. The sea-bands did the trick!

I've cruised another time since then and had no problems with seasickness but we didn't go through a storm either.

It is an alternative to medication and I can vouch for its effectiveness.

Lisa

Here's a link in case you've never heard of Sea-bands.
Sea-bands

found this one too -- neat designs for children!
Children's sea-bands