Feb 25-2013 ~Wonder 5night W. Caribbean

[AbsyBabsy]

Hi, just booked this cruise. My husband and I will be celebrating our 20th wedding anniversary!

Hey gang - we moved this cruise to the Fantasy instead. I really wanted to be back on the Wonder but out schedules changed. Have a great time!

 

[kelzow]

I just booked our families first Disney Cruise TODAY!!
Coming from NY to Miami for the first time too!

This was so spur of the moment...got a Mousesavers update on my facebook...the Kids Sail Free was hard to resist!
We are going to keep this as a suprise for the kids. Its going to be so hard!!!
We will be pulling them out of school for the week, but it's soooo worth it!

Does anyone else ever take their kids out of school for week long trips? My kids are relatively health and miss very little school (4 days a year), so I feel like this is jusified.

CAN NOT WAIT!
Time to hit the gym!!! the clock is ticking!

 

[moomy-san]

I just booked our families first Disney Cruise TODAY!!
Coming from NY to Miami for the first time too!

This was so spur of the moment...got a Mousesavers update on my facebook...the Kids Sail Free was hard to resist!
We are going to keep this as a suprise for the kids. Its going to be so hard!!!
We will be pulling them out of school for the week, but it's soooo worth it!

Does anyone else ever take their kids out of school for week long trips? My kids are relatively health and miss very little school (4 days a year), so I feel like this is jusified.

CAN NOT WAIT!
Time to hit the gym!!! the clock is ticking!

Welcome!! How old are your kids? I have a 8 and a 12 year old and for this vacation they will be out of school for 2 weeks!

 

[kelzow]

My daughter is 8 and my son is 10! I'm sure they will see each other at the kids club! : ) What do you tell the school? Obviously the truth, but do they get upset? What do they come back to you with?

I am assuming since this IS DISNEY...that the cruise will be a full house. Not everyone knows about this site.

We've done DisneyWorld twice, and have talked about a Disney Cruise, never thought we'd be going on one. This kids sail free is an amazing deal!
I have a ton of research to do for this trip! Including doing our own excursions.
I cant see paying for their excursions. Just looking for nice, clear, calm tropical SAFE Beach at each destination. Will rent a car or Taxi (did it on a cruise we took pre-kids (12 year ago ) Rentals then were DIRT Cheap!

To be on the safe side, we will be arriving Saturday (Fort Lauderdale)just incase a NY Winter storm blows through! We'll rent a car from FLL to Miami, stay in a hotel 2 nights to enjoy Miami some, return the car, then they will shuttle us to the Port on Mon morning.

 

[lovedmy1stcuise]

we will be on this cruise too, have a 9 and 11.5 year old. Kelzow we have exactly the same plan as you are, arriving Saturday to Ft. Lauderdale. Do you have a Hotel already, still looking don't know where to book as don't know anything about Miami.

 

[moomy-san]

The schools always just say "have a nice time!!" I'm glad our schools are supportive.

We are actually on back-to-back cruises, so we will already be onboard when you all arrive. We get into Miami on the 18th and board on the 21st.
We are doing a beach day in Cozumel and Castaway Cay sting ray swim. We've done other beach days on our Mexican Riviera cruises and I hope these ones are as good. Warmer water would be nice!!!
I am too chicken to plan my own excursions... way, way too chicken!! We've seen too many people run for the ship because their tour got back late or the cab didn't pick them up on time. If I spoke even a word of Spanish maybe I'd feel better about it. But my Canadian french is NOT going to help.

i am so excited. We are telling our kids on Christmas day. The first year we went we gave the cruise as their big Christmas gift. We rebooked the next year while on board, but didn't tell the kids for a long time. When we finally did tell them it was HILARIOUS!! I made a photo book of our first cruise and on the very back page I put a picture of the stateroom door for the room we would be in next, and under it I said "Setting Sail January, 2012... Welcome back, the ***** Family!!!" This year our kids think that there is NO way we are going on a cruise because we just moved to a new city and bought a beautiful house and had to furnish and renovate it. They will be shocked!

 

[kelzow]

No Idea what hotel we are staying in yet. I will rack my brain and the internet AFTER Christmas! : ) We just plan on sleeping at the hotel, so I dont want to pay a fortune NOR do I want a dirt bag hotel.

Will do the Car rental as well.

Im not worried about renting a car or getting a Taxi (this is their money maker, there will be plenty around!)...I am certain they know english better than we know Spanish. We will give ourselves plenty of time to get back to the ship as well. And the places we go will most likely be the same place the Excursions go so we wont be desolate.

Not sure if I should tell the kids on Valentines Day ♥ a week before we leave. That way they can get excited and tell their friends etc...
Or just totally suprise them THAT day? I can pack with out them knowing. They are going to be sooo excited!

Do any of you plan on bringing your kids to the kids clubs? I may want to for a little bit so I can relax by the pool myself!

 

[stacieps]

My kids are DD(15) and DS(12) - this trip falls during our school vacation, so they won't miss anything. We're arriving in Miami on Saturday (staying downtown at Hyatt), planning to do a Miami/Everglades combo tour on Sunday.

We've been to Cozumel many times and love Paradise Beach (have gone several times and are going again in February!) and Chankaanab (gone a couple of times - did the dolphin encounter). Chankaanab is nice but not great entry into the water from a beach (have to use stairs at a stone wall), the beach/lagoon area was very difficult (rocky) to get in and out.

Paradise Beach is about $15 for a cab. $2 to rent a chair. $12 for a bracelet to use the water toys (inflatable iceberg, water trampolines, kayaks, floats). I rent chairs for all and get the bracelets for the kids. Food and drinks are great (surcharge for credit cards, so I bring cash).

 

[moomy-san]

My youngest DD8 loves the kids club!! She is often among the last to leave @12:00 am!! My older daughter has always gone to the Edge for a few minutes the first day and then never again. Not her thing at all. She instead likes to kick back in our room and watch movies. Whatever- it's her vacation too!!

 

[lbroberts]

Hey there! We just decided to do back to back when the kids sail free event happened a few weeks ago! Is there a FE for this? We are first timers & very excited to go however I am nervous abut getting sea sick!

 

[moomy-san]

Hey there! We just decided to do back to back when the kids sail free event happened a few weeks ago! Is there a FE for this? We are first timers & very excited to go however I am nervous abut getting sea sick!

We are back to back too- Feb 21 is our first sailing.

 

[krickletplusus]

This is our first DC. I was hoping to get some info and possibly chat with other excited people getting ready to go!

 

[lbroberts]

Is anyone interested in doing a FE since the group is small?

 

[kelzow]

This is our First Disney Cruise... Can someone explain what exactly the FE are! I am up for anything to make this even more fun for the kids! In the process of getting some magnets for the door.

Hoping my shy 8 year old daughter comes out of her shell quickly and makes some friends before the cruise is over. My 10 yr old son shouldnt have a problem.

My kids dont know about the Cruise yet, think we may tell them tomorrow for New Years Eve!

Ok, so my kids just got ipods for Christmas. Please, hopeing this doesnt come off wrong... Does anyone's kids have ipods too, maybe thinking some of the kids could text or facetime or even email each other and make a friendship before the cruise. You know, break the ice. Kinda like the old fashioned "pen pal" days. Of course this would be under adult supervision. Or would this be a bad idea? New to all this ipod stuff.

 

[lbroberts]

Next to your door is a fish that you can clip things up with. People make pockets and put gifts in the pockets for the people who sign up to exchange on their cruise list. If you search on the DISboard for it you can pics of the FE's people have made and ideas of gifts the gave or received. My daughter might interested in emailing.....kind of like a pen pal! I can ask her

 

[krickletplusus]

We would do a fish extender with a small group. I dont want to commit to too much on a first time cruise....but I think it would add to the magic!

 

[lahicks68]

I would like to participate in the FE. It is our first Disney Cruise so I understand the concept but am unsure of the execution. I have a six year old daughter, turning 7 on the first day at sea, and 2 two year olds, one girl and one boy. I have some ideas on what to make but are there any other places to find ideas? My daughter is a Girl Scout and loves to make SWAPS.

 

[lbroberts]

Just search on the DISboard & you"ll find ideas . I think there maybe be something in pinterest but I never looked for it.

 

[krickletplusus]

We will have our 3 yr old daughter and 16 yr old daughter and would want to start to get these together asap. Obviously if there are fewer than 10 cabins it wont be much issue anyway.ixiedust:
very excited

 

[kelzow]

FE's So Is this how it works... if there are 10 kids involved, each family would purchase 10 small gifts and put in the pockets of a FE that you would construct and hang outside your door? Then I am assuming the first night the kids would all most likely want to collect their little gifts. Now...how do the kids know which cabin # to look for? Because I dont think we get our cabin #'s until we board.

I would be willing to take part in this as well. 2 kids: son is 10 and daughter 8. are these smaill gifts wrapped? are they labelled boy/girl? or they just go through and take what they want?