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

[hinsok1]

Hinsok1 I thought of your son on the cruise. We had 2 couples with us at dinner and both had young children. Well, the one couple had a 7 year old that had a fit about leaving the club to go to dinner with them in the evening. Then we saw them in Nassau and they said she had started crying when they wanted her to go with them to look around. We saw her toward the end of the cruise when they had a graduation ceremony and all the kids get graduation caps with Mickey ears on top and t-shirts. They looked so cute.

I have a feeling that DS(6) will be the same way . . . We'll just have to play it by ear . . . We've been out of town for the week . . . went to Milwaukee to visit both sets of Grandparents. We are all tired. Now trying to get the Christmas Decorations up . . . Talked about the cruise tons with the IL's. We made our final payment and I think we have all our reservations for dinner at WDW set. Just waiting to make that Palo reservation. MIL stated that she will not go on any of the excursions. She is staying on the boat. So it may change what we do for excursions . . . I don't feel as bad leaving him on the boat if I know she is there. FIL and DH want to do Stingray City, still not sure about Cozumel. Swimming with the Dolphins is out. . . . way too expensive when you really look into it . . .

I'm I seeing right that Pirate night is the day that we are in Cozumel?

Yankeegal64 - will you still to Carlos and Charlies or do the Pirate party on the ship?

 

[hinsok1]

hello everyone,we (myself, dw and ds6 ) will be joining all you fine folk on the Feb 10 western.This will be our third Disney cruise and we can hardly wait! It will be here before we know it.

Welcome Jayv1 - We also have a DS6 - We'll have to make sure they meet! Our kids are getting very excited! I want to make a countdown chain for them . . . Thought it might be crazy with the Nativity Calendar starting next week for Christmas and the cruise chain . . . Oh well!

 

[yankeegal64]

Hey Hinsok1,
They won't start the Pirate Party until the ship is leaving Cozumel. We'll end up missing dinner but I had requested the rotation that has us at Parrot Cay that night so we won't miss much. We'll end up getting something from room service before we head out to Carlos and Charlies. They have a midnight buffet after the party with fried turkey legs, chili, desserts, and other stuff on the deck by the party. They show a movie on the dive in screen after the party. I grabbed 2 lounge chairs and my friend went to the room and grabbed 2 blankets (it was chilly) and we were set to watch Johnny Depp as that dirty bad pirate. It was so much fun! The fireworks were incredible. This was the first time I had seen the fireworks.

 

[spartanggirl]

Hello. I haven't posted in months, but am getting really excited about our upcoming cruise. We also have a DS6 going with us. This will be our first cruise. He is making us watch the DVD almost every day now.

Sounds like we will have lots of boys around the same age to keep each other busy. Do you all plan to dress them up for pirate night? DS was Captain Jack for Halloween, so we are looking forward to using the costume one more time.

 

[yankeegal64]

Welcome aboard Spartangirl! Where are you traveling from? We are dressing up for Pirate Night. The guys are actually buying costumes but us girls are just getting gauchos, bustier or white puffy shirts, and black boots so we can wear our stuff again (a cheap penny pinching bunch we are). The kids seemed to get the biggest kick out of the other parents being dressed up. They come around and take your pic at Pirate Night and it has the Pirate Boarder around it.

 

[yankeegal64]

I just went back and read the previous posts Spartangirl(does that happen to be the SNL Spartans?). You're coming from MI! My brother, SIL, and cousin were going to drive down here and then we were going to caravan but he just got an excellent air fare out of MI ($106.00 rt). That was less than gas for that so they are all flying now. We are all arriving on Friday and staying at the Residence Inn also. I drove past it the other day to check it out. The outside isn't as nice as the Raddison but the rooms are suppose to be really nice. It'll probably be too cold to use the pool. There were people in the Raddison pool in Feb last time we went but I stayed in my sweatshirt. Can never tell with this crazy weather. Went we got off the cruise on Wednesday the Port Authority people were standing there saying "welcome to Alaska". It was 38 degrees and the poor people that hadn't packed any cold weather gear were in t-shirts and shorts getting off the ship.

 

[matcm81]

My mom and I (25/F) will be traveling on the Feb 10th Western Caribbean cruise. I've been on the DCL twice and LOVE it, so I'm bringing my Mom on to show her how awesome it is.

We've already picked out our Pirate outfits for "Pirates in the Caribbean" dinner/party, and have picked out the excursions we want to do. We're SOOOOO excited!!!!!

 

[spartanggirl]

Hello. Spartanggirl is for the Michigan State Spartans, but we do remember the SNL Spartans as well. We are die hard MSU fans - it has been a rough year for us though.

DS will be in his pirate costume, but we aren't sure about the rest of us. Getting DH to put a costume on may not happen. We may just throw on the bandanas and call it a day. DS goes to bed around 8pm EST every night, we we are going to need to practice staying up later for the cruise (and sleeping in later of course).

We got great deals to fly to Orlando also - purchased the tickets back when the Northwest strike was a possibility.

 

[joksten2000]

We need to have a lot more coming on board. The 2/03 cruise has lots more, maybe everyone needs to go through the neiborhood and encourage people to come with you.

 

[yankeegal64]

My mom and I (25/F) will be traveling on the Feb 10th Western Caribbean cruise. I've been on the DCL twice and LOVE it, so I'm bringing my Mom on to show her how awesome it is.

We've already picked out our Pirate outfits for "Pirates in the Caribbean" dinner/party, and have picked out the excursions we want to do. We're SOOOOO excited!!!!!

Welcome Matcm81!
We have a few around your age (F23/M23/M29). I just told my daughter that I want to do a cruise with just the girls one day. Your mom is going to have such a blast! Where are you traveling from? What excursions did you pick?

 

[yankeegal64]

We need to have a lot more coming on board. The 2/03 cruise has lots more, maybe everyone needs to go through the neiborhood and encourage people to come with you.

NO Joksten2000! I'm still hoping they don't sell out and we get the bump from 9 to 6! I've been stalking the other boards and I noticed a few 9 to 6 bumps on the Dec cruise. Don't get me wrong, I'm grateful to just be on the ship but a girl can always dream. My friend that I just went on the 3 day with is considering joining us. She had such a good time except for the bumpy ride on the last night.

 

[matcm81]

Welcome Matcm81!
We have a few around your age (F23/M23/M29). I just told my daughter that I want to do a cruise with just the girls one day. Your mom is going to have such a blast! Where are you traveling from? What excursions did you pick?

Thanks Yankeegal!!
That's comforting to know that there will be "kids" my age on the ship. I know a lot of people my age tend to not want to sail with Disney, but I love it!!!!

I live in Orlando (I'm a Cast Member at WDW), but my parents and the rest of my family are all back in Ohio. When I was little my family went on two of the Disney cruises that were hosted by Premiere Cruise Line ("The Big Red Boat"), and my parents have been on other cruise lines... but this will be my Mom's first OFFICIAL Disney Cruise... and I can't wait for her to experience it! We're a BIG Disney family! Our plan is to do this cruise and kinda learn the ropes, then we're going to plan a cruise with our DVC points and have my brother and Dad join us. We can't wait!!!!!!!

We haven't picked our excursions just yet... but my Mom is coming down to visit me next week and we're going to plan it all then!

Thanks again for responding!!!!!!!!!

Any other 20something cruisers sailing on Feb 10, 2007?

 

[hinsok1]

Hey Hinsok1,
They won't start the Pirate Party until the ship is leaving Cozumel. We'll end up missing dinner but I had requested the rotation that has us at Parrot Cay that night so we won't miss much. We'll end up getting something from room service before we head out to Carlos and Charlies. They have a midnight buffet after the party with fried turkey legs, chili, desserts, and other stuff on the deck by the party. They show a movie on the dive in screen after the party. I grabbed 2 lounge chairs and my friend went to the room and grabbed 2 blankets (it was chilly) and we were set to watch Johnny Depp as that dirty bad pirate. It was so much fun! The fireworks were incredible. This was the first time I had seen the fireworks.

Sounds great, but boy will that be late for the kids . . . Maybe Grandma will go to bed early and so can the kids . . . But I know my DS will want to see the Pirate party so . . . .

 

[hinsok1]

Welcome Mary - Now that it is getting closer we are starting to get a little more activity on this thread . . .

For you other newbies out there . . . are you ready to book Palo's tomorrow?

Yankeegal64 - how did you request a certain rotation . . . ? I didn't think that was possible?

Has anyone gone on the bike ride at Castaway Cay? That sounds interesting to me . . .

Spartiangirl - are you taking DS on the excursions? If so which ones? I'm struggling trying to decide which ones DS will like the best. Our YMCA had a snorkling class two weeks ago that we tried. He loved it, but he was so wiped after constant swimming for 1 hour . . . I'm thinking he will want to snorkled for a little bit, then go back to the ship . . . not always an option on the excursions . . . Then of course there is the concern that he will not want to leave the Oceaner Club . . .

to many decisions . . . I think I need someone to make these decisions for me . . .

Spent last week with my parents . . . DM is trying to get DF to go on a trip . . . he hates spending money on that type of thing . . . so I started quizing him about the things he has enjoyed about their last couple of trips . . . trying to get him to see that they are worth the money . . . well we get to the WDW trip that they took in Sept 05 and he goes - "well it was great because it was all planned for us . . . " Then it dawned on me . . . we went with them and I planned the whole week . . . had the AR made at all the restuarants . . . knew which park we were going to when, etc. . . I had read all through my Passporter so I knew what to go to and what not to . . . but left enough room to be flexible when needed . . . it was a great trip. . . . So now I need to convince them that the DCL would also be as much fun and it is just as much fun without kids . . . this time around though we are going with DH parents, and they get to benefit from my planning . . . though this time, I'm starting to wish I had someone to make the plans for me . . . I love doing this, but there are way to many choices . . . .

 

[hinsok1]

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.

Yankeegal64 - which excursion did you decide on for the stingray excursion . . . I think that is what DH has decided to do in Grand Cayman . . . but we agree with the comment on not loading the boat down with people . . .

 

[yankeegal64]

I went with Soto's. This site has a link to them and great info about getting around and activities in Caymans:
http://www.caymanactivityguide.com/forums/
It's one of the best sites I have seen for info on islands. I was trying to find a similar site when I just went to the Bahamas and no luck. There are so many helpful locals on this site and great coupons (the rum cake one especially). They do a morning and afternoon run. We are doing the early run and asked if they would get us a little early. They will also drop you at a beach or somewhere else for no charge after the excursion. I think it's $35. for adults and $25. for kids. That is going to a snorkeling spot and then to stingray sandbar.

 

[yankeegal64]

Thanks Yankeegal!!
That's comforting to know that there will be "kids" my age on the ship. I know a lot of people my age tend to not want to sail with Disney, but I love it!!!!

I live in Orlando (I'm a Cast Member at WDW), but my parents and the rest of my family are all back in Ohio. When I was little my family went on two of the Disney cruises that were hosted by Premiere Cruise Line ("The Big Red Boat"), and my parents have been on other cruise lines... but this will be my Mom's first OFFICIAL Disney Cruise... and I can't wait for her to experience it! We're a BIG Disney family! Our plan is to do this cruise and kinda learn the ropes, then we're going to plan a cruise with our DVC points and have my brother and Dad join us. We can't wait!!!!!!!

We haven't picked our excursions just yet... but my Mom is coming down to visit me next week and we're going to plan it all then!

Thanks again for responding!!!!!!!!!

Any other 20something cruisers sailing on Feb 10, 2007?

That's so great! The kids first time was on the Big Red Boat too! My oldest went on Princess and said she will never travel on anything but Disney again. Both of my girls have traveled DCL with their boyfriends after we went as a family. Where is your family from in Ohio? My mom use to take us to Cedar Point every year and we still travel to do a road trip up to the park every once in a while.

 

[yankeegal64]

Welcome Mary - Now that it is getting closer we are starting to get a little more activity on this thread . . .

For you other newbies out there . . . are you ready to book Palo's tomorrow?

Yankeegal64 - how did you request a certain rotation . . . ? I didn't think that was possible?

Has anyone gone on the bike ride at Castaway Cay? That sounds interesting to me . . .

Spartiangirl - are you taking DS on the excursions? If so which ones? I'm struggling trying to decide which ones DS will like the best. Our YMCA had a snorkling class two weeks ago that we tried. He loved it, but he was so wiped after constant swimming for 1 hour . . . I'm thinking he will want to snorkled for a little bit, then go back to the ship . . . not always an option on the excursions . . . Then of course there is the concern that he will not want to leave the Oceaner Club . . .

to many decisions . . . I think I need someone to make these decisions for me . . .

Spent last week with my parents . . . DM is trying to get DF to go on a trip . . . he hates spending money on that type of thing . . . so I started quizing him about the things he has enjoyed about their last couple of trips . . . trying to get him to see that they are worth the money . . . well we get to the WDW trip that they took in Sept 05 and he goes - "well it was great because it was all planned for us . . . " Then it dawned on me . . . we went with them and I planned the whole week . . . had the AR made at all the restuarants . . . knew which park we were going to when, etc. . . I had read all through my Passporter so I knew what to go to and what not to . . . but left enough room to be flexible when needed . . . it was a great trip. . . . So now I need to convince them that the DCL would also be as much fun and it is just as much fun without kids . . . this time around though we are going with DH parents, and they get to benefit from my planning . . . though this time, I'm starting to wish I had someone to make the plans for me . . . I love doing this, but there are way to many choices . . . .

Don't feel alone. A friend from work just asked me to write out an itinerary for him for his 5 day WDW trip. He knows I am very organized (ie anal). He actually did this the day before he was leaving. He said he didn't want to have to think. I was cracking up. I've always wanted to be a travel agent but I'm worried that it's going to be a dying profession with all the avenues to plan your own trips online. It would be nice to get paid with more than lunches for helping with people's trips. Tell your parents to get on these boards and they will see how much us older folks love the cruise. It's not too late to add them to this cruise. It looks like we have plenty of room.

 

[spartanggirl]

Hello hinsok1

Our son will want to stay up for the Pirate Party too. It is all he talks about. He has given up napping, but maybe we will be able to convince him to take a small one so he can stay up to party (it works on New Years Eve, so maybe it will here too).

I signed up for some excursions this morning. We are planning on taking our son with us on them. We are not doing any in Key West. We plan to do the Pirate Encounter in Grand Cayman (I booked the 8:15 am one, but am considering moving that to the later time). In Cozumel, we are doing the Dolphin Discovery (it is expensive I know, but this is vacation!). Actually my son & I will be getting in the water with the dolphins, DH and my parents will be observing. In Castaway Cay, we are doing the Stingray Adventure.

My son is still afraid of getting his head wet in the water. He is totally fine as long as his head does not go under. Hundreds of dollars in swimming lessions have not cured this, but maybe the Disney Cruise will.

We are sticking with the DCL excursions. I am not one to take chances and book with someone else in case something happens that would delay us, etc.

We were hoping for Palo brunch or tea, but the only things available were dinner reservations.

Now let's just hope the weather is warm enough at Castaway Cay to want to get in the water.

 

[matcm81]

That's so great! The kids first time was on the Big Red Boat too! My oldest went on Princess and said she will never travel on anything but Disney again. Both of my girls have traveled DCL with their boyfriends after we went as a family. Where is your family from in Ohio? My mom use to take us to Cedar Point every year and we still travel to do a road trip up to the park every once in a while.

Hello Again Yankeegal,

My family and I are from Toledo, Oh... only about an hour from Cedar Point! I've been there dozens of times, and love it ("The Rollercoaster Capital of the WORLD!") My mom has also been on the Princess cruise, and she did not care for it at all. One reason that I'm so anxious for her to experience the Disney Cruise is so she can compare it to other cruise lines she's sailed on... I just know she'll like Disney the best!!!!

Where is everyone else from?