February 11, 2006 Roll Call

[atakaratemom]

I just placed an order with Shirley today as well. It should be a great surprise, although apparently I'm not very good at surprising people! Dean, do not feel bad at all. I should know better than to leave something out that a snoopy little tween could find. It 's all good; he is very excited and now he gets to be like one of the adults keeping secrets from his little sister which makes him feel very important. At least now I don't have to think up an excuse as to why I'm making him try on his dress clothes to see if they still fit.

 

[sweeks82]

I also ordered a basket from Shirley - princess themed. Won't a little princess be surprised!

Started the packing process yesterday - I think this is the earliest I've ever started to pack for vacation - I'm so excited. I think all of our chats really help with the excitement, can't wait to meet everyone!

 

[definately dory]

You can't even imagine how excited we all are!!! I am just as bad as the kids!! Although I am working long hours this week so I can go away and relax!! I think I am going to try and find the time to do a door sign at some point this week. Can't wait to meet everyone.

 

[gmcutter]

I just had my son try on his water shoes and they don't fit! Where can I find some pronto? Would they have them for sale in Florida? Geez, one week for WDW and 12 to Magic!!! Just bought two more suitcases. We only had carry-on size. How will I ever fill these up?

 

[disneymum]

Gmcutter: Here's an answer to your question about watershoes that I found on another link:
"Its a wise investment to buy some Wet Shoes to wear around the pool or at the water parks. It will save you feet in the hot weather. Places like Typhoon Lagoon do sell them but they have the Disney mark up. Its easier to buy them before you go away (Ebay is by far the cheepest) or just get them from one of the cheep outlet stores whilst you are in Orlando. "


I hope this helps and have a great time at WDW. Looking forward to meeting you on the cruise.

Lisa

 

[definately dory]

Cutter, I just bought some for my girls at Walmart. They were only like $8.00 here in Canada.

 

[detroitdad]

Ginger-

I've also had luck finding them even off season at Walmart, K-Mart, Target---to name a few.

Dean

 

[detroitdad]

WOW Kenda!

You must be bouncing off the walls. I mean it, if you have any last minute questions about the parks or a gameplan before you leave, feel free to e-mail me. I love helping out first timers! (OK that just sounds wrong). lol


Dean

 

[NoFussRuss]

I just got a call from Disney and Cozumel has been cancelled. Looks like we are going to Costa Maya instead. Many businesses still are not ready for people I guess. See everyone at the next chat.

 

[disneymum]

Thanks for the update nofussruss. I checked DCL reservations yesterday and it was still showing Cozumel. I just checked again and you can now book excursions for Costa Maya. Unfortunately with DS being 4 I couldn't find any excursions that really interested me other then a beach day but it was pretty expensive.

Here I was looking forward to Carlos and Charlies in Cozumel!!!

Lisa

 

[detroitdad]

I just got a call from Disney and Cozumel has been cancelled. Looks like we are going to Costa Maya instead. Many businesses still are not ready for people I guess. See everyone at the next chat.

Wow that is huge! I had a feeling but I didn't think they would wait so long. Guess they were giving Cozumel as much time as possible. Interesting. Now I have to see if there is anything worthwhile in Costa Maya.


Dean

 

[sweeks82]

I got a call from Disney today too! They said that there weren't enough tenders available at Cozumel. Now, I'll have to do some research on Costa Maya, not many excursions to choose from.

 

[RAC]

I am with you Lisa! I was looking forward to Carlos and Charlies too.
I know nothing about Costa Maya. What is there to do?

 

[definately dory]

I was just on the website and it is a little disapointing as there isn't much to choose from at Costa Maya. Anyone else find that.

 

[NoFussRuss]

I was curious too about Costa Maya since I had booked an excursion on Cozumel, but I did find this article and sounds like it might be a nice surprise!

I was dismayed to see Costa Maya as your Port of the Month pick in your December 2002 issue--I wanted to keep this port my little secret!

My husband and I were on Carnival two weeks ago, and due to a tropical depression, we were unable to reach one of our scheduled ports, Grand Cayman. We were informed, instead, we would be docking in Costa Maya. We usually book excursions on our own, but since we hadn't researched this port, we decided, on a whim, to purchase through the line the excursion to Uvero Beach--$30 per person.

After an approximately 25-minute bus ride to Uvero Beach, we thought we had been driven to paradise! White-sandy beaches, beach chairs, crystal-clear waters, friendly staff, open bar all day and, for a small additional charge, we were able to order fresh Mexican food. Our ship was one of two in port, and there weren't more than 100 people on the beach. My husband swam, snorkeled, and saw many beautiful fish while I lay under the palm trees enjoying our little piece of heaven--we never wanted to leave.

Selfishly, I was happy to see you only dedicated two sentences to Uvero Beach since I., didn't want word to get out about this beautiful slice of heaven. I'm sure if the writer spent the day there, you could fill many pages of your magazine with its beauty. My next cruise on Royal Caribbean's Navigator of the Seas will not be making a scheduled stop in Costa Maya, but you can be sure the next time we are there, Uvero Beach will be the place we spend our day. But for now, I'll just keep it my little secret.

I also found this site which has some information on the port. http://www.puertocostamaya.com/

Since I booked the day at the beach in Cozumel - I might do the same here (even though $200 for a day at the beach is expensive - but what the heck we are on vacation!!!!!) - No beach here in NJ until May!

Russ

 

[detroitdad]

I will probably try to book something on my own as I'm tired of DCL hiking up the prices on all the excursions. The submarine excursion is an additional $20/person for the kids in Gr Cayman but they were all booked up except through DCL for that one. I'd like to try to find something at Uvero Beach.

 

[NoFussRuss]

Dean - seems to have a bus running from the Port to Uvero Beach every 35 minutes, but I don't see how much they are charging. I'm looking more into it. Let me know if you find anything...

 

[disneymum]

I wonder if we could get a group rate and book a bus to take us around and see the sites. That way there's safety in numbers and it might be cheaper. We could discuss it at our next chat??

Lisa

 

[atakaratemom]

I got the call as well and I must say I am so disappointed. Many of the trip reports I have read about Costa Maya aren't too encouraging. I was really looking forward to our snorkeling trip in Cozumel. If I can't arrange something similar for Costa Maya we might just opt to stay on board and enjoy a less crowded ship.

 

[gmcutter]

I've just been doing alot of searching within these forums and within cruisecritic.com about excursions at Costa Maya. The Uvero beach one seems to be well liked if you want to spend the day relaxing at the beach. There were also some tremendous reports about the Chacchoben ruins tour by David and Ivan. Here is the site: www.chacchobenruins.com/wst_page8.html

I think we'll try that one even with our DS7. The tour is short enough that we'll still have time for a short beach playtime.

Also read alot about the vendors in the little burb of Mahahual...they are tremendously agressive. So shopper beware.

See ya soon!

Oh yes, thanks for the tip to go to WalMart etc for water shoes. Found the perfect pair!