FEBRUARY 14, 2009 (very early roll-call!)

[lovesDCL]

hi again!

thanks for all the warm welcomes

just to provide some of the information others have provided... we are flying out of boston and have yet to book airfare as we are waiting for jetblue (we have a couple of free flights with them ) it will be me(Jhoanna) and my boyfriend (Sam) of 6 years and this will be his 2nd cruise, my 3rd and the 1st 7-nighter for both of us

we will be staying at the hyatt the night before as well and not sure if we should use the DCL transfers or use a town car service (we don't want the hassle of renting a car) but are unsure if we should pay the extra $60 for the town car (vs DCL transfers) since it is just the two of us

for those of you who have taken used some form of limo service is it worth it i don't know if we want to pay the extra $$ just to get there earlier than the shuttles

we have a few excursions in mind but have not finalized any plans...and we are keeping our fingers crossed to be able to get palo high tea, brunch, and dinner

that said...i'll keep future posts shorter...or at least try

btw...is anyone making door magnets?

ok..that's all..really...ttfn!

 

[Snow What]

we are flying out of boston and have yet to book airfare as we are waiting for jetblue (we have a couple of free flights with them )

lovesDCL, do you live in Boston?
We are from Boston and are leaving on Thursday and staying at WDW.
My DSIL and my DH's cousin are all flying out on Friday and staying at the Hyatt also. (10 of them) As of right now, they are using DCL transportation. Sometimes convenience overrides costs. I personally think it would be cheaper for them to get a car service/van and travel together than to pay DCL bus service. But to hav on board airline check-in on the way home is key to me...I understand you need to have booked DCL transportation to do that.

btw...is anyone making door magnets?

YES I AM!!
I have already started working on some.
I am saving up the large 2008 magnetic Red Sox schedules from Dunkin' Donuts us use for them. I have instructed my DH to get as many of these as he can find and save all other forms of advertising magnets to convert to my DCL door magnets. I am doing them for my DSIL and cousins cabins too. 4 in total.

I am just so excited!

 

[grizbuzz]

I just started doing a little research on St. Marteen/Martin last night...French side/Dutch side...beaches...shopping...so many things to learn! And I haven't even started looking into St. Thomas!

Has anyone been to these locations? I'm thinking we'll probably do excursions on our own and beaches are definitely attractive.

What are you all planning??

And, yes, we are planning to do magnets too!

 

[Snow What]

I just started doing a little research on St. Marteen/Martin last night...French side/Dutch side...beaches...shopping...so many things to learn! And I haven't even started looking into St. Thomas!

.... I'm thinking we'll probably do excursions on our own and beaches are definitely attractive.

What are you all planning??

Nothing planned just yet ... You may want to becareful regarding the beaches in St Maarten with little ones.... I have heard that there is nudity, if that is an issue for you. Some of us are thinking about staying on the ship in St Maarten and enjoying the empty ship.... lunch in the dining room, nearly empty pools, etc
I have been to Meagan's Bay in St thomas...Very nice. it was such an awesome day at the beach. (but it was also over 12 years ago) We may go there on our own (with our little family group of 14). You will need to hire a taxi or one of those vans you find at the pier.

 

[Jodijo]

Hi Everyone! Sorry I have not been on lately. My husband has been on the California fires and that left me very busy at home.

Our family would love to be included in the gift exchange. We did it on our cruse last Feb. and it was a lot of fun. We have 2 cabins = Cabin 1 Mitch & Jodi, Cabin 2 Mason (13) & Mickayla (11).

We also have door magnets. It is fun creating them and I can't wait to put them on our cabin door. I looked at our countdown and we have 199 days to go. Although it is seems like a long way to go, we are under 200 days.

 

[Snow What]

Hi Everyone! Sorry I have not been on lately. My husband has been on the California fires and that left me very busy at home.

I hope your husband stays safe and the weather conditions change to make it easier to fight those horrible fires!

 

[Snow What]

My bookings/travel plans are almost done for the cruise. I just booked my 2 pre-cruise nights at OKW today.

1. Arrive at MCO and take Disney's ME to WDW on Thurs Feb 12.
2. 2 nights @ OKW
3. Car service (need to book that) to Port Canaveral.
4. 7-night fabulous cruise on the Disney Magic
5. DCL bus back to MCO

Now I can work on my door magnets, fish extender, and gifts for the exchange! As I have mentioned before, this is my first Disney cruise. How many of you have done the gift exchange before? And do you usually do one gift per cabin, or small individual gifts for each guest? I guess it can go either way depending upon what the gift is.
On other threads, some of the ideas were stickers, tatoos, pencils, candy... Is that one pencil per cabin or per kid? I know my kids would fight over it.... I just want plenty of time to prepare for this. I know it is suppose to be something inexpensive, but I want to make sure that my gift is not too cheap!

 

[marybrat]

I am hoping to be on the Eastern cruise in Febraury. I have just about talked DH into it. ow it's a matter of getting a decent price. This would be our first cruise ever. It would be myself, DH, DD 11, and DS 8. So want to go! *Keeping fingers crossed*

 

[PURTYPAT1]

Hi Mary,

Welcome, start looking for airfare, if you can conquer that

How many will be staying at the Hyatt on Feb 13th. We are staying there, on the 13th & 21th.

I have never done this, but we are renting a car on the Feb 13th (Thrifty) returning it to MCO late 2/13, & on the Feb 14th renting again (enterprise), & driving it to the port

Feb 21 Enterprise is picking us up at the port, & we are off to the World for the day, staying at the Hyatt again & leaving for NY the next afternoon 22nd.

Yikes, I am bit nervous about the above, I have read how people have done it, & make it sound so easy, so what the hey.

 

[lovesDCL]

hi!

snow what...i am living in so cali right now and my BF is in boston, but i will be back in boston by the time of the cruise

hope everyone's planning is going well... and i hope jetblue puts up the feb flights this week!!!

have a great weekend all!

 

[disnutt]

LovesDCL Welcome to our group!

Marybrat Hope to have you officially signed on soon! It's our first cruise, too!

Jodijo Prayers for your DH's safety

My DH would probably rather be fighting fires in CA because I've started really talking about the cruise. He's a willing participant but not a willing planner. I am always the travel coordinator. Good because I usually get my first choices of where to go and what to do but bad because I don't have anyone to consult with.

Have a great week!

Kiena

 

[Snow What]

My DH would probably rather be fighting fires in CA because I've started really talking about the cruise. He's a willing participant but not a willing planner. I am always the travel coordinator. Good because I usually get my first choices of where to go and what to do but bad because I don't have anyone to consult with. Kiena

I know exactly how you feel. I do ALL of the vacation planning in my family and the only thing my husband does, it complain or says, "whatever". My SIL is the same way as my husband. She says, "just tell me where I need to be and what time.." I really don't have anybody to consult with or get excited about things with either.

 

[marybrat]

I put down a deposit on the cruise!
Of course, now I have to get airfare. Waiting for Southwest to open their schedule through February. Can only hope it's not too expensive.

 

[disnutt]

I put down a deposit on the cruise!
Of course, now I have to get airfare. Waiting for Southwest to open their schedule through February. Can only hope it's not too expensive.

Yippee!

We're still waiting on SWA, too! I know their website will be on fire when the dates go up.

Snow What I don't mind making the plans but I really get mad when someone complains about something that they could have had a choice in. My mother is famous for that! She's coming on the cruise but I won't listen to any complaints! I'll just plug my ears and say, "Lalalala I CAN'T hear you!"

 

[grizbuzz]

I put down a deposit on the cruise!
Of course, now I have to get airfare. Waiting for Southwest to open their schedule through February. Can only hope it's not too expensive.

Woohoo!!

 

[DH_Imagineer]

ahhh. then the tropical music starts playin g -----lets go already

 

[Jodi]

Hey Everyone!!

Sorry I've been absent as of late, no excuse really except nothing to report. It's been so long I feel like the "new guy"!

Welcome to MaryBrat & LovesDCL - The party is getting bigger all the time!!

Kiena - The NYC 1/2 was a great time, although very humid . I can't wait for next year!! When's your "CDC"?

Patty - Hey You!! Are you busy planning away?

JodiJo - Has DH safely returned home yet??

SnowWhat - What do I bring for gifts!!

GrizBuzz - Magnets??? You guys are doing magnets?? I think I'm way too inept for that or the danglers!

I hope SW comes out with this airfare on the 21st like they said....I'm chomping @ the bit trying to figure out what all of this is going to cost the 5 of us ! I've been starting to think about excursions, too, but the way the airfare's going I'll be lucky if I can even buy 1 margarita while on board, let alone go snorkeling or the like .

I am getting excited, though....once the kids go back to school it'll be here b4 you know it!

 

[grizbuzz]

I've been doing some reading on St. Martin and St. Thomas and I'm ready for my Caribbean vacation! Ah, the beaches sounds so nice. Still have no idea what we'll do, but I'm thinking beach days for both islands will be on the agenda. This will be my first time to those islands (only have been to Bahamas and Jamaica in Caribbean so far) and they look just gorgeous!

I'm discovering planning vacations far ahead is a great way to make time go slower. When you really want a vacation and it's months away, it seems to take forever to get to that date. I think this is a good thing, as time has been flying by way too fast these last few years.

If people have ideas/suggestions on excursions (especially self excursions), please share!

-Jen

 

[marybrat]

We would love to be a part of the exchange. It will be me (Mary), DH (Keith), DD11(Courtney) and DS8(Alex).

Since I'm new, I have no idea about any of this. Do people decorate their doors? What are fish extenders? How do I get one? Help!

 

[grizbuzz]

We would love to be a part of the exchange. It will be me (Mary), DH (Keith), DD11(Courtney) and DS8(Alex).

Since I'm new, I have no idea about any of this. Do people decorate their doors? What are fish extenders? How do I get one? Help!

I've put you on the gift exchange list: http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=26378362&postcount=296

Door decorations and fish extenders are optional. I've never had a fish extender myself, so I can't say much about them, other than they are called fish extenders because they hang on that little fish hook at the cabin door (I think). Basically just a string of pouches to put items in (like little gifts). Maybe someone can say more here?

If anyone else wants to join the gift exchange, let me know!

-Jen