February 17, 2007

[dgaston]

I could have sworn I posted our excursions, but don't see them here. On St. Martin, we'll rent a jeep-type vehicle and go to the Butterfly Farm and THEN Orient Beach. Last cruise, I couldn't get the men to go to the Butterfly Farm AFTER the Beach. DH and I are doing the St. John Barefoot Sail and Snorkel, and Dan (the DS) is parasailing at Castaway Cay at 1:30, just hope it's not too windy that day. Still haven't booked Palo for brunch -- when are others going?

 

[bride2007]

Is anyone going to Disney World before the cruise? What is everyone's plans the few days before the cruise? and which hotels are you staying/

My Fiance and I, with our families, will be flying in on Sat. 2/10. We are all staying at the Shereton Vistana Resort and Jeff and I will be getting married there on 2/14. We will be in the parks most day except Tues. to go to Discovery Cove and Wed. to rest before the wedding. We are also planning on going to the "Pirate and Princess" party on 2/15. I have things to finish up for the wedding as well as getting things together to pack but I'm going to wait till after the new year.

Does anyone know if the St. John Island tour gives you time on your own as well?

Debbie

 

[Sue (mom of 3 boys!)]

My Fiance and I, with our families, will be flying in on Sat. 2/10. We are all staying at the Shereton Vistana Resort and Jeff and I will be getting married there on 2/14. We will be in the parks most day except Tues. to go to Discovery Cove and Wed. to rest before the wedding. We are also planning on going to the "Pirate and Princess" party on 2/15. I have things to finish up for the wedding as well as getting things together to pack but I'm going to wait till after the new year.

Does anyone know if the St. John Island tour gives you time on your own as well?

Debbie

Have you been to Discovery Cove before? It is INCREDIBLE!! Enjoy making your final wedding plans!

 

[bride2007]

Have you been to Discovery Cove before? It is INCREDIBLE!! Enjoy making your final wedding plans!

Hi Sue,

I haven't been to Discovery Cove before. Can you tell me a little about it and give me some pointers?

Thanks
Debbie

 

[dgaston]

Does anyone know if the St. John Island tour gives you time on your own as well?

Debbie

Here's what the Passporter's Field Guide to the DCL (2nd Ed.) says
Take a boat ride to St. John, then board an open-air safari bus for a guided tour through the unspoiled beauty of this island. Includes a stop at Annaberg Ruins. For all ages. Typical meeting timeis 7:40 am ... Cruiser reviews were uniformly positive. Most enjoyed the "boat ride" to "beautiful" St. John, though it was "long." The "very good driving tour" makes a lot of stops for pictures" and the driver is both "entertaining,"and "knowledgeable." Some of the roads are "very curvy," which could bother some. Overall the tour is a "great way to "see a lot" of the island.

HTH

 

[Sue (mom of 3 boys!)]

Hi Sue,

I haven't been to Discovery Cove before. Can you tell me a little about it and give me some pointers?

Thanks
Debbie

It is amazing. We went a few years ago, and we all still talk about it. One thing we did was book our dolphin swim early in the day. For the rest of the day, we enjoyed the area. There's a fresh water lazy river, aviary with really tame birds and deer, waterfalls, stingray lagoons(Saltwater), tropical fish lagoons(salt) you can snorkel in. The food was very good, and there was a lot of variety. The photos cost $$$, but they were worth it! You cannot bring a camera (or any jewelery, etc) with you in the water for the dolphin swim. My mom and MIL were with us, though, and chose not to swim with the dolphins, so they took video and a few other photos. The locker rooms were extremely clean and well stocked with shower gels, soap, shampoo, towels, etc. There are lockers to put your things in. Don't bother with sunscreen, you are given sunscreen that is safe for the animals. You do need to wear swimvests when swimming with the dolphins. The beaches are beautiful and are loaded with chairs and umbrellas. Plan to spend the whole day there--it is both exciting and relaxing. We will definitely go back there someday! I know there is a link with info. If I can remember it, I'll let you know. Have you gone on their web site? I'll check on that link and repost to this post...

Here's the DISBOARDS POSTS LINK: http://www.disboards.com/forumdisplay.php?f=32
Here's another one: http://www.themeparks.com/discovery/index.htm

 

[christinou]

Have you been to Discovery Cove before? It is INCREDIBLE!!

We are planning to do Discovery Cove this summer, and we are all so excited about it. Sue, you will have to tell us more about it, as well as give us any tips/hints you might have.

 

[Sue (mom of 3 boys!)]

We are planning to do Discovery Cove this summer, and we are all so excited about it. Sue, you will have to tell us more about it, as well as give us any tips/hints you might have.

One thing I forgot to mention above-let them know if you are allergic to neoprene, and you can get a different vest... Do you have any specific questions? It has been a few years, but it is still fairly fresh in my mind. I'll look in my scrapbook to see if there is something I forgot to mention.

 

[Sue (mom of 3 boys!)]

One thing I forgot to mention above-let them know if you are allergic to neoprene, and you can get a different vest... Do you have any specific questions? It has been a few years, but it is still fairly fresh in my mind. I'll look in my scrapbook to see if there is something I forgot to mention.

ohh, one more thing, and I am sure I'll think of more too ...At the end of the day (maybe 45 minutes or so before closing), the trainers play with the dolphins, and we watched. It was like a mini dolphin show--awesome!

 

[christinou]

Thanks Sue, you and I must have been posting at the same time yesterday, and you did answer all of my questions, my girls are really looking forward to swimming with the dolphins, and it seems that DC is a much better way to do it than a dolphin swim on the cruise.

We booked a banana boat ride at Castaway Cay and I am now second guessing myself, the last 2 cruises, the CC day was pretty miserable and cold, so being wiped around in cold water does not seem like such a good idea, have any of you done it?

 

[kcashner]

Discovery Cove is great. It is the only "non-Disney" thing we have done that compares to the customer service aspect of Disney. It is an "all inclusive" day. You show up and park (included). They take a complimentary family photo as you enter. You will have a specific time for the dolphin swim--15 minutes of instruction with a trainer and then 30 minutes with the dolphins. You will be in groups of 6-8 with one dolphin. Everyone will get the "experience" photos--kissing dolphin, swimming with, etc. DD still remembers her favorite part. She was about 10, and the trainer asked her if she wanted to go really fast. She said yes, and trainer gave the dolphin a "full speed" type of command with DD hanging on to a fin. She absolutely loved it.

THe fee includes your lunch, wet suit, snorkel (which you keep), and all the time you want in the aviary (food provided for the birds), sting ray pool (food provided), coral reef, lazy river, etc. It can be a very full day. You will spend a bundle on photos on the way out, but.....oh well. Cost is about the same as the dolphin deals on the cruises, and you get a whole lot more. THey also offer a less expensive package for people who are too young or choose not to swim with the dolphins.

 

[PhotoLisa]

Well . . . I'm back home for the time being and LOVED lounging in my bed all morning while watching TV and cruising the Internet.

Here is my most favorite image of our entire trip. It is my son looking through the arches at the flag at the Ampitheatre that bunts up against the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington Cemetary - a very poignant moment.

Now . . . its time to focus on this weekend's trip to Atlanta and then the cruise. I am soooo ready for our trip. I really hope that virus issues that ships are experiencing will not be an issue in February. I am going to try to get a flu shot this week. The more immunities I can build up before our trip, the better.

Lisa

 

[Sue (mom of 3 boys!)]

Lisa, that is a very nice picture. Very thought provoking...

I had a flu shot the first week in Oct. Guess what?? I am getting over the flu!! I was only sick for 2 1/2 days, and my symptoms were definitely reduced, but, yep, the flu!! I have been sick non-stop since the beginning of November. Strep throat, sinus infection, and the flu. I hope I am getting it all out of my system now! My house smells like Lysol, because I have been spraying everything down that I may have touched, LOL.

Christine-I have never done the banana boat. The thought of being flung of any moving thing is too much for me... I am not faint at heart though. I will ride ANY rollercoaster (can't wait for Universal), can't wait to parasail, and love adventures. It's only when I feel that I may crash to injury that I get nervous. You should have seen me this summer when we climbed a "difficult" trail in Acadia National Park. Not pretty.

 

[bride2007]

Hi Lisa,

The Picture of your son is beautiful for so meny reasons. I love the coloring. It looks like whoever took the picture is very much into photography. Thanks for sharing it with us.

 

[bride2007]

Discovery Cove is great. It is the only "non-Disney" thing we have done that compares to the customer service aspect of Disney. It is an "all inclusive" day. You show up and park (included). They take a complimentary family photo as you enter. You will have a specific time for the dolphin swim--15 minutes of instruction with a trainer and then 30 minutes with the dolphins. You will be in groups of 6-8 with one dolphin. Everyone will get the "experience" photos--kissing dolphin, swimming with, etc. DD still remembers her favorite part. She was about 10, and the trainer asked her if she wanted to go really fast. She said yes, and trainer gave the dolphin a "full speed" type of command with DD hanging on to a fin. She absolutely loved it.

THe fee includes your lunch, wet suit, snorkel (which you keep), and all the time you want in the aviary (food provided for the birds), sting ray pool (food provided), coral reef, lazy river, etc. It can be a very full day. You will spend a bundle on photos on the way out, but.....oh well. Cost is about the same as the dolphin deals on the cruises, and you get a whole lot more. THey also offer a less expensive package for people who are too young or choose not to swim with the dolphins.

I believe that we also receive a 7 day pass to Sea World. Do you know if we can give that pass to someone else? We won't be able to go but we do have people in our group that will want to.

 

[christinou]

I believe that we also receive a 7 day pass to Sea World. Do you know if we can give that pass to someone else? We won't be able to go but we do have people in our group that will want to.

I have no idea, but you can get a pass to Seaworld or Bush Garden Tampa Bay, we have never been there, so we are planning to try it out that way.

It is absolutely gorgeous here today, sunny and 50 which is very unusual for this time of year so it really is putting me in the mood for the cruise.

 

[bride2007]

I have no idea, but you can get a pass to Seaworld or Bush Garden Tampa Bay, we have never been there, so we are planning to try it out that way.

It is absolutely gorgeous here today, sunny and 50 which is very unusual for this time of year so it really is putting me in the mood for the cruise.

Good Morning All,

Christine thanks for responding to my enquiry.

It is 50 degrees here as well but we have had rain every day. I will be so happy to go to the land of sunshine. I refuse to go on this trip looking like I have been dipped in bleach. I signed Jeff & I up for a month of tanning for our Christmas presents.

I hope everyone is getting close to finishing up their Christmas shopping. We aren't getting the kids much this year but the theme is Disney. We are getting everyone, going to WDW, the ticketts for Pirate & Princess night on 2/15. The rest of their gifts will be Disney tees & other Disney items. I seem to be the only one getting excited and we leave in 57 days. They better start getting excited. LIKE THEY HAVE A CHOICE!!!!

Enjoy your Holidays,
Debbie

 

[kcashner]

Yes, you get a one week pass whicn can be used either the week before or the week after your Discovery Cove visit. It has a name on it, but I don't know how strictly they check IDs.

 

[christinou]

9 weeks boys and girls, how exciting is that........
And with the holidays in the middle it should go really really fast.
We are off today for last minute shopping, I still have some baking to do for the kids to bring to school, then we can all relax.

 

[kcashner]

And school is out for us! Yeah....as of Monday, I can sleep late!

The Feb. 10 cruise prices have really dropped. A cat 12 is $699!!! Oh well, we have the week of the 17th off school. I'm really getting eager. Unfortunately, the pre-cruise diet isn't going well although I am hitting the gym regularly.

I really can't wait to be back on the Magic.