February 10, 2007 7-Day Western Who's coming?

[hinsok1]

Can't believe we don't have more people on this post? I know I have been hearing a lot of people compair the cost of the DCL to others . . . and several people are going on other lines. We came real close to doing that. But in the end, my love of Disney won out. I hope it was a good decision! I have a feeling that the Feb 17 cruise will be a little busier because a lot of schools have out Mon and Tues. We were going to do that one, but DH really wanted to go on the Western cruise.

Is the smoking bad on the cruise? They only have a few places that smoking is allowed right?

To decorate the doors, you just buy magnetic paper?

Let me get this right, joksten200 and yankeegal64 have both been on the Disney cruise before. What about Mags'mom and PrincessPat209?

Just dawned on me . . . if the cruise is paid in full by next week, we can made advanced reservations at Palo's? Is that right? or wait, maybe I have that wrong, is it 90 days or 75 days before?

 

[yankeegal64]

Not sure about pirate costumes . . . Traveling with my in-laws and I know they won't! I'll keep my eyes out and see what we can find! Sounds like fun.

DH and I are spending way to much time surfing looking at trip reports! Can't believe we are down to 97 days! Really need to get to the gym . . . but I know that probably won't happen . . . oh well.

Have you guys decided on what excursions you will do? DH and DD want to do the swimming with the Dolphins in Cozumel. DS is too young . . . Will probably split up for the day. Will need to find something for DS(6), MIL and myself to do. . . . How is the shopping?

We have done the swim with the stingrays in Grand Caymens and since we have some newbies traveling with us, we are going that route again. I have big issues about the Dolphin excursion but I won't get on my soapbox. I've been going on a Grand Caymen board that is run by the locals and has great tips about what beaches and excursions to avoid and what ones to frequent to avoid the cruise ship crowds. It's seems to be mostly locals and divers but they are very nice and helpful people. I'll get it and post it here because they also talk about what shopping areas have the best deals. I'm not going thru Disney on the stingray excursion because I found a highly recommended operator that does the stingray and snorkel for less and they don't load their boat down with people. We'll probably have the operator take us to a beach after or the rum cake factory (not the one by the turtle farm the other one is suppose to be better). Haven't decided on Cozumel yet. We've done the Catamaran fury and that is alot of fun. We are talking about taking an excurion to Playa del Carmen to avoid the crowds. It's suppose to have some beautiful beaches and snorkeling. The night will definetly be at Carlos & Charlies. Best place to get blackmail video to embarrass your family members for years to come. We are on a tight budget and so I've been doing a lot of research to get the most of our day for the least amount of money. And don't even get me started on the gym! I've read some posts where parents had to fight with their kids to get them to leave the ship on port days because the kids clubs are so much fun.

 

[yankeegal64]

Can't believe we don't have more people on this post? I know I have been hearing a lot of people compair the cost of the DCL to others . . . and several people are going on other lines. We came real close to doing that. But in the end, my love of Disney won out. I hope it was a good decision! I have a feeling that the Feb 17 cruise will be a little busier because a lot of schools have out Mon and Tues. We were going to do that one, but DH really wanted to go on the Western cruise.

Is the smoking bad on the cruise? They only have a few places that smoking is allowed right?

To decorate the doors, you just buy magnetic paper?

Let me get this right, joksten200 and yankeegal64 have both been on the Disney cruise before. What about Mags'mom and PrincessPat209?

Just dawned on me . . . if the cruise is paid in full by next week, we can made advanced reservations at Palo's? Is that right? or wait, maybe I have that wrong, is it 90 days or 75 days before?

I've been once but my brother is a DVC member like Joksten2000 and he goes every year usually around February. Didn't even take his kids when we went with him because they were doing bad in school and had been forewarned. I'm going on a last minute 3 day in 2 weeks. I didn't have any problem with the smoke and I am very sensitive to it. I think they have even done away with smoking in all but 2 of the clubs. I saw where the Feb 17th cruise had much more posts and views than ours. Just means more room in the hot tub!

For the doors it's cheaper to use regular paper and buy those rolls of sticky magnetics from WalMart and cut into pieces. This is our first time doing the doors and we are surprising our friends and families and doing theirs. It's suppose to make it easier for your kids to find your room also.

I haven't talked my brother into the pirate night costume ...yet. Everyone else is on board so I think he'll come around. He's 6' 2 so I'm trying to talk him into getting the Davey Jones costume. Scarry.

 

[joksten2000]

Can't believe we don't have more people on this post? I know I have been hearing a lot of people compair the cost of the DCL to others . . . and several people are going on other lines. We came real close to doing that. But in the end, my love of Disney won out. I hope it was a good decision! I have a feeling that the Feb 17 cruise will be a little busier because a lot of schools have out Mon and Tues. We were going to do that one, but DH really wanted to go on the Western cruise.

Is the smoking bad on the cruise? They only have a few places that smoking is allowed right?

To decorate the doors, you just buy magnetic paper?

Let me get this right, joksten200 and yankeegal64 have both been on the Disney cruise before. What about Mags'mom and PrincessPat209?

Just dawned on me . . . if the cruise is paid in full by next week, we can made advanced reservations at Palo's? Is that right? or wait, maybe I have that wrong, is it 90 days or 75 days before?

This will be our 10th Cruise and not all cruises have we had a problem with smokers, DCL does not enforce the rules real well. Out of our last 5 cruises we're had problems on two cruises, once on Castaway Cay ( Aren't we entitled to breathe, why not have a smoke free area here). We refuse to get a stateroom with a Verandah. I'd have no problems at all if everyone would smoke where allowed. When you complain to DCL they say smokers are allowed to smoke, it's like they don't want to hear that people are doing it all over the ship. To make matters worse they don't post any signs!!
The good news is that all indoor areas are smoke free, so if we didn't want fresh air we could drag a lounge chair down to Beat Street and spend our days there. Just booked everything for 2/03 cruise, next week for this one.

 

[hinsok1]

How do you manage to pack for a B2B trip? I'm stessing about just this one. . . and the fact that we will be in 3 locations before we get home (hotel night before cruise, cruise, POR for 2 nights after cruise) . . . Any great tips for a newbie?

 

[joksten2000]

I wear a bathing suit 85% of the time 6am to 5:30pm. We are literally at the adult pool. Pack 6 tshirts, 4 socks 3 dressy shirts two pair of pants, 4 underwear 2 bathing suits 1 pair of shorts, 1 pair of dress shoes 1 pair of sandals. On Friday night we wash and I send the shirts & pants to be cleaned an pressed. The people on the 2nd cruise don't know we wore those clothes. Now my DW is another story, she didn't wear all the clothes she packed. After all the cruises she still hasn't learned. My motto travel light, the less to carry the better.

 

[yankeegal64]

Just for a comparison:
Feb 3rd: 353 posts & 4315 views
Feb 17th: 353 posts & 3660 views
us: 65 posts (mostly bumps!) & 700 views

Does everyone else know something we don't? My brother always goes this time of year and he's never had a problem with the weather.

As far as packing goes, I always travel light. One nice gown for formal night, a dark skirt or pair of dark slacks to wear to the dinners with a different top each night. Oh don't forget your pirate costumes. I think we are actually going to try shipping some stuff to our rooms this time. My daughters are a different story they brought one suitcase with nothing but shoes last time.

 

[yankeegal64]

This is the link to the Cayman Island board:
http://www.caymanactivityguide.com/forums/
Lots of good information and nice local people.

 

[yankeegal64]

bump & grind!

 

[hinsok1]

What kind of weather do you think we will have? Last time I was at WDW was in Sept/Oct and it was hot and humid. I'm guessing it won't be quite like that . . . Can I get by with tank tops, or will tshirts be better . . . ? Do they keep the restaurants cool? I can tell already, I'm going to bring too many clothes . . . I can relate to yankeegal64's DD's and the shoes . . . I can maybe cut back to one pair for evenings, but at minimin I think I will need tennis shoes, water socks, sandles . . .oh the list goes on . . .

Do either of you walk or use the gym on board . . . my FIL said on their last cruise (I think on Holland America), the deck was reserved for walking at 7:00 a.m. - so he is telling me I have to get up early to join him . . . While joining him doesn't sound to bad, not sure if I really want to get up at 7:00 a.m. on my vacation . .. Especially since I am use to CST! 8:00 is a different story . . . and I know that the rest of my family will not be moving.

Made it to the gym two days in a row!!! 50 mins last night on the Elliptic. Tonight I did 30 min, then spend 35 min on weight machines . . . I don't think I will be able to get out of bed tomorrow . . .but it felt good. We'll see how long I can keep it up. Before we went to WDW last Sept I was pretty good at getting to the gym 3 times a week. It really helped me with all that walking . . . Of course I got totally out of that habit this summer with all the kids activities . . .

Can' believe we have 93 days before we get on the plane!!

 

[hinsok1]

If the cruise doesn't fill up, what are the chances of getting upgraded? Which cat usually get upgraded? Have you ever been?

 

[yankeegal64]

Last time we went I wore a sweatshirt, jeans and tennis shoes coming from NC and did not put them on again until the morning of the last day. I ended up wearing a comfortable pair of sandles for all the excursions and walking and brought a pair of evening shoes for dinner. My DSIL searched all over to find a pair of water socks before we left and then didn't put them on once. I didn't see any place that you would really need them. It was cool when we boarded but by the time we got to Key West we had changed into shorts and t-shirts. Grand Caymans and Cozumel were perfect and the crew said the week before it had rained everyday. The water tempature at Castaway Cay was a shock after being in the water in the Caymans and Cozumel but it wasn't that would keep anyone out. My brother always goes the same time of year and has been very lucky with the weather.
I didn't use the gym on the ship but found I had lost 10 lbs when we got home from all the walking! I was shocked because I had eaten everything in sight. We always took the stairs also.
Congraduations on getting to the gym. I was going faithfully and slowly started going less and less. I'm trying to get myself to start back on Monday. My daughters want me to get in shape to run the Minnie Marathon in 2008. You'd laugh at that if you saw me ! My oldest just did the Marine Marathon (26 miles) and the Minnie is 13 miles. We'll see.
As far as upgrading goes...we had booked a 12 gty because I had a hunch that we might be. We are in a 9 now because our TA moved us when the military discounts were released. What are you currently booked in and how many in your room and how many rooms?

 

[joksten2000]

Will leave wearing the DCL sweatsuit we bought on board, really a little nicer than a sweatsuit. May need it for boarding and sail off, but like Yankeegirl says it warms up pretty quickly. Haven't sailed this time of year except for xmas cruise in 2000. We did the Mex Riviera on the Magic on Aug 05, 2005 and froze till we got two days south of LA. Wierd weather. Just want it to be nice enough to be at the pool. Hopefully by sailing two weeks we'll get some nice days.

 

[hinsok1]

We are in a cat 6. Went around and around when trying to plan this . . . I'm a little clasterphobic, so wasn't sure how I would do in the inside room . . . the IL's wanted a veranda . . . I am going to have to pinch pennies for awhile after this, but hope it will be worth it . . .

We have four in our room DH(42), DD(10), DS(60). MIL (73) and FIL(73) will be in the other room. Small group. First time on a cruise for myself and the kids. DH went on one in college and his parents have been on many over the years . . .

Better get off to work . . . I am running so late today . . .

 

[Mags'Mom]

We cruised this week last year and had very cool weather (Western also). While we did wear shorts and t-shirts, we covered up a lot. I think (hope) that was just a fluke, I want HOT weather this year.

 

[hinsok1]

We cruised this week last year and had very cool weather (Western also). While we did wear shorts and t-shirts, we covered up a lot. I think (hope) that was just a fluke, I want HOT weather this year.

Yes - I agree - I want it hot! My DH is so excited about doing everything, but I think I like joksten2000's idea of spending the day at the pool! Life is so hetic that I am really looking forward to doing nothing. My DD jokingly said I would need to bring a suitcase just for books! She isn't to far of the mark. When I get down time there is nothing I like better than imersing myself in books! I'm trying to decide if I can hold off from reading the latest Eve Dallas book by JD Robb until the trip . . . It just came out this month and I am just iching to read it. . . . it is not uncommon for me to read until the wee hours of morning if it is a good book!

 

[hinsok1]

Congraduations on getting to the gym. I was going faithfully and slowly started going less and less. I'm trying to get myself to start back on Monday. My daughters want me to get in shape to run the Minnie Marathon in 2008. You'd laugh at that if you saw me ! My oldest just did the Marine Marathon (26 miles) and the Minnie is 13 miles. We'll see.
?

I give you credit to try a Marathon . . . That is one thing i will never attempt! Running of any sort is not my cup of tea. . . I am surpriced I actually enjoy the elliptic and the weight lifting. it has been years since I have attempted anything like that, but I had back surgery two years ago and as I get older the body is complaining about the additional weight it is carrying around . . . I can't believe how much better I feel when I workout!

 

[joksten2000]

My DW took five books on our B2B and we had to buy two more in Grand Cayman.

 

[joksten2000]

BUMP

 

[hinsok1]

My DW took five books on our B2B and we had to buy two more in Grand Cayman.

I woman after my own heart!