February 17, 2007

[christinou]

LIsa, I hope that by now your son is on his way home, have a great thanksgiving with all of your family. We are watching the parade right now in our Pjs as we do every year.....
it is amazing how much I love all of the US traditions, even though I did not grow up with them. My husband on the other hand is still sleeping......

 

[cdnstitchfan]

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you. Hope you all enjoy the time with your family.

We have our Thanksgiving at the beginning of October up here in the North...

 

[justhat]

Lisa, enjoy your holiday with your son. The weather wasn't too bad here today so hopefully his flight was fine.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

 

[PhotoLisa]

Hello everyone!!!

Wanna hear something crazy?

I was chatting online with my husband (who is offshore at work). We were talking about our anniversary trip that we take each October. I don't know how this came to even be considered but . . . . after we had finished discussing next October . . . I threw out there . . . "what do you think about doing a back-to-back cruise in February? Its only about another $4K to stay for another week."

HE SAID YES! OMG! He sent an email to his boss asking about extending his vacation for another week. We should know by tonight if this is really happening. I am absolutely dumbfounded. If we do it, we'll send the girls home and we'll stay on the ship.

Crazy, huh?

 

[christinou]

Wow, Lisa that sounds great, hurry up, the craziness to book Palo will start again shortly

That would be great, Western cruise is great also, we went swimming with the stingrays when we went last time, which is one of the most amazing thing I ever did.

 

[PhotoLisa]

I'm really frustrated with DU. I sent an email for a quote with an explanation last night so they could quote me and I could pay today. The only response I received was giving me my quote number at 11:25 this morning and saying

"The next step is for me to review your reservation and then find you the lowest possible rate with the information you supplied on our website. Once Disney has confirmed availability and pricing, I will contact you via email with your no-obligation quote. At that time, I will provide you with all the information required to reserve and book your reservation, including deposit amount and due date."​

When it was time to book our 2/17 cruise, I couldn't reach them by email to book that day either!!

I've sent an email to Barb and asked her for a quote. I'm really hoping I get something back from her while I'm out covering high school football playoff action tonight (that is if my heart can survive the 4th quarter of the LSU/Arkansas football game!).

I may end up booking directly with Disney and not transferring it to an agent.

 

[Sue (mom of 3 boys!)]

Hello everyone!!!

Wanna hear something crazy?

I was chatting online with my husband (who is offshore at work). We were talking about our anniversary trip that we take each October. I don't know how this came to even be considered but . . . . after we had finished discussing next October . . . I threw out there . . . "what do you think about doing a back-to-back cruise in February? Its only about another $4K to stay for another week."

HE SAID YES! OMG! He sent an email to his boss asking about extending his vacation for another week. We should know by tonight if this is really happening. I am absolutely dumbfounded. If we do it, we'll send the girls home and we'll stay on the ship.

Crazy, huh?

I am VERY jealous!! LOL Good luck getting everything booked!

 

[PhotoLisa]

I called Barb and she put the room on hold for me. She told me I can call her back tonight even as late as 10 or 11 PM!

My Disney Visa is activated and ready to use!!!!

Now, if my dh would get online before I leave for the game, I could take care of all of this now!!!

 

[Sue (mom of 3 boys!)]

I called Barb and she put the room on hold for me. She told me I can call her back tonight even as late as 10 or 11 PM!

My Disney Visa is activated and ready to use!!!!

Now, if my dh would get online before I leave for the game, I could take care of all of this now!!!

Wow, I can't imagine inmy wildest dreams being able to do back to back 7 night cruises. I'd be happy if we could do back to back (DCL) years! You must be so excited. Were you able to get the same room, or will you have to move?
The Western Carribean is nice. We went there on a RCCL cruise in APril. Key West and Grand Cayman were our favorite ports. We saw some ruins in Costa Maya, but stayed on the ship in Cozumel.
Now you'll be bouncing around on two cruise meet threads!!

 

[PhotoLisa]

Our cruise is all booked!!!! I really LOVE Barb and her service. It was wonderful to be able to speak to a real person and not deal through email.

I've done a western itinerary twice and I actually preferred the western to the eastern. Our February 2006 cruise was western but we visited Costa Maya due to the damage to the Cozumel dock. From what I'm reading, the coral reefs in Cozumel have been devastated.

We're looking at doing a waverunner excursion to the stingray sandbars in Grand Cayman.

Ed found a scuba excursion that doesn't require certification in Cozumel and he wants to do that in the morning with me (he's certified but hasn't dived in at least the 5 years we've been together). Of course, he wants to go to Carlos and Charlie's so we can say we went.

For Key West, I am booking a spa villa couples treatment for sunset. We'll probably just walk around the area in early afternoon. It is a town similar to the French Quarter in New Orleans.

DU has put a hold on the room I wanted since I first requested a quote from them but I've sent an email asking them to delete the quote. As soon as the room is released back into stock, Barb will change my second reservation for me. We'll be in 6630. We'll get to stay on the ship when everyone else disembarks. We'll leave our room for a little while to allow the room steward to clean it. We'll have to go to Guest Services to get new KTTW cards around 11:30 and will witness the first new guests arriving on the ship! I think that is going to be the neatest thing to witness!

Is anyone taking Disney transfers back to the airport? I have to make a decision on how to get the two girls back to the airport for their flight home. For safety purposes, I will probably book them on a Disney transfer. I'm just a little leary about putting them in a towncar -- we may never see them again.

I checked out the other cruise meets thread. They barely have 5 pages!! Not much action at all.

 

[christinou]

Good work Lisa, you are my kind of woman, make a decision and go with it, that will be so fabulous, are the girls jealous you are staying on?
Will you be able to do your laundry that morning, when everybody is getting off and on. We will all be so jealous of you that morning, We are taking the autotrain so not airport for us.
I am sure your kids will be safe on the Disney transfer that is probably the easiest way to do it for them.

 

[PhotoLisa]

Courtney didn't say anything at all about us staying an additional week -- only that she wasn't going to stay at her friend's house bc after being a week on the ship, she will probably need her space! lol

I'm thinking Disney transfers will be the safest too. I don't want to have to worry that they get teen-napped between the ship and airport. Once in the airport, I'm not worried at all. Court has traveled alone in/out of airports in the last 5 years that she is a pro.

The girls will get back into the New Orleans airport before 3 PM Saturday and won't return to school until Tuesday morning. They'll both have time to wind down before getting thrown into the thralls of school again. And of course . . . they'll have boyfriend catchup time!

The laundry room will be my companion on that Saturday morning. Just me, the washing machine and the dryer . . . lol. Its a necessary evil. I may send some things to be laundered and pressed.

 

[cdnstitchfan]

Lisa,
We are planning on taking the Disney shuttle back to the airport after the cruise. Not sure how Disney works the disembarkment, but the RCCL cruise we did they let people off in groups, as we are not US citizens we were able to get off the ship first.

If you like I don't mind making sure the girls get to the airport ok. We have a very long wait at the airport. Thinking of getting a room at the airport, as we do not fly out until 7 at night.

Pam

 

[PhotoLisa]

Pam:

As far as I remember, there were never any announcements made saying that non-US citizens left the ship any differently but I may have been oblivious to the additional requirements since it didn't apply to me.

Court & Kelli's flight back is at 1:55 so they should have plenty of time to check in and get to their gate.

We'll have 2nd seating for breakfast but knowing the girls, they will elect to sleep as late as possible and grab something quick at Topsiders or wait until they get to the airport to have fresh Krispy Kreme donuts.

On our first cruise, we didn't fly out until late and got a day room at the Hyatt. It was AWESOME! When we got to the Hyatt, we had time to take a long nap, eat and take a shower before we had to fly out.

Southwest doesn't have a luggage checkin at the port, unfortunately. The girls will have to get a porter and have her/him bring their luggage to the bus. I'll have to be sure that they have good rolling bags to make it easier on them once they get to the airport. The bus dropoff and Southwest ticketing counter aren't that close together and I don't recall seeing porters at the Disney bus area.

If you disembark at the same time with the US citizens, I'd gladly take you up on watching out for the girls! We'll see how it goes.

 

[cdnstitchfan]

Lisa,

Thanks for the tip on staying at the Hyatt. I have read that other's have stayed there as well. Did you have any problems getting to the room before the set check in time? Usually check in time is 4 pm.
We are travelling with friends, so staying at the airport would be alot easier for all of us. We are probably going to need the down time.

 

[PhotoLisa]

Hyatt Regency Orlando International Airport
9300 Airport Boulevard,
Orlando, Florida, USA 32827
Tel: 407 825 1234 Fax: 407 856 1672

I called for you and found out that there is availability on 2/24/07. The rate is $89. Check in starts as early as 10:30 and check out is at 6 PM. If there are rooms clean before 10:30, they'll allow an even earlier check in.

 

[cdnstitchfan]

Thanks for checking Lisa, I will give them a call tomorrow and see if I can get a room for the 24th. I very much appreciate all the information and the help.

Have fun planning your next cruise. I don't know if I could find the time to plan another. I cann't believe how much time I have spent on this one. I have found out some amazing things, should make this trip a great time. It is so cold here, we have to be careful not to be outside for too long. Wind chill is making it get down to -27 c here. Brrrr.... We need another chinook to blow in....

Pam

 

[dgaston]

PhotoLisa: I don't want to be, but I am envious of your ability to book that back to back cruise! I hope your healing continues as well and I do look forward to telling you how envious I am in Person!

Wow! Back to back cruises! A new life goal!

 

[PhotoLisa]

I am just a fortunate woman to have a husband that loves to travel! No way, no how did I ever think he would say yes to this!

We had talked about doing an Adventure by Disney vacation in October but I don't want to miss out on Courtney's senior year homecoming during football season. There is no way to tell right now when the school will set the schedule for next year. I guess since we were going to spend that money to go to Italy or do a Grand Canyon type adventure with Disney, its just a matter of spending it now or spending it later.

We truly LOVE cruising and are looking forward to FOURTEEN glorious days in the Caribbean!

Planning two cruises is easy -- no extra clothes to pack . . . just have to decide if there are things we want to do in port that requires a reservation.

We did decide to go on a waverunner excursion in Grand Cayman. We'll take waverunners from the beach out to Stingray City and then to Rum Point Beach. That should be a pretty cool adventure and something we've never done before. In Cozumel, we'll most like do a beginner's scuba dive. I've never done that either.

Pam . . . you poor lady! You're absolutely freezing you touche' off! That is INSANE!!! Its 57 degrees F here at 9 PM. There has been frost on the ground the last few mornings and we think that is cold but ohhhh my gosh . . . we have no clue what cold really is! Bundle up and keep warm!

 

[Sue (mom of 3 boys!)]

Thanks for checking Lisa, I will give them a call tomorrow and see if I can get a room for the 24th. I very much appreciate all the information and the help.

Have fun planning your next cruise. I don't know if I could find the time to plan another. I cann't believe how much time I have spent on this one. I have found out some amazing things, should make this trip a great time. It is so cold here, we have to be careful not to be outside for too long. Wind chill is making it get down to -27 c here. Brrrr.... We need another chinook to blow in....

Pam

Pam- my DS15 was feeling cold yeaterday, so I showed him your post. It was about 35 when he saw it, so he stopped complaining real quick (NOT-he IS 15, LOL). It did make me feel a little warmer though. -27??!! We only hit that a few days each winter. ANd it's usually at night. Keep warm!