February 18, 2012 Western Caribbean

[rubbergypsy]

we were on the feb 14 eastern that year. travel pres week as not to pull out of school. now the airfare game!!! hope to score a great deal. anyone on this cruise doing fe exchange?

 

[jasec2]

Hello and welcome! It has been discussed but I guess wait until it gets closer. Sounds like it would be fun though!

 

[Pixi Stix]

jasec2-
Did I see you post on another thread that you were going to Nachi Cocom? We are going and I hope it's as good as I've read. They responded very quickly with availability and confirmation so that's a good start! Still not sure about Grand Cayman though. Would love to hear about plans from others.

Dena

 

[jasec2]

Yes, we are going there. We got what I think is a confirmation from them. It was very quick that's why I wasn't sure. We chose it after reading the reviews. We have two little boys (they will be 3 and 4 at the time of the cruise) and then my parents as well. I figured it would be safe, clean and the boys could chose either the pool or the beach. The pics look nice too. Glad we will know someone else going too!
Jessica

 

[jasec2]

We haven't thought too much about GC but my parents have been there before and know some beaches. I will let you know what they think is best. I read one review that said Sea Grape (which is part of Seven Mile) was very good.

 

[Nicsmom]

5 1/2 months out...getting very excited. I've been watching airfares for the cruise...OMG! I hope they go down. I really don't want to spend over 2k on air. I'm hoping Southwest or JetBlue will have some kind of sale. How's everyone else doing with booking air?

 

[msnoble]

Hi Everyone!
Sorry I've been absent for a while--seems like the end of the summer really flew by, and with getting ready for school to start this week it has been hectic here!

Welcome to the new members who've posted since early August!

Now that I have the Alaska cruise behind me, I feel ready to really start digging into this cruise! I've already obsessed waaay too much over our room assignment, and after reading a few things about the room we were initially assigned I decided to move. Luckily my TA was able to grab a couple of the other 10Cs that were still available (we're traveling with a friend and her DDs), so I am hoping that it will work out well. Of course I am still dreaming of some pixie dust and a free upgrade, but given that it's President's Week I'm certainly not holding my breath!

Since we have just over 5 months until we cruise, we should probably start to develop something a little more formal re: an FE Exchange. It seems like at least some folks are interested, right?

I am also just starting to look into excursions--would those of you who've done this itinerary before comment on things you would recommend or caution us to avoid? Anyone already decided what they'll be trying to book?

Finally, I was thinking about creating a private Facebook group for us, so that we could get acquainted a little easier, share photos if folks wanted to, etc. How many of you are on Facebook and/or interested in a group like that?

Sorry for the lengthy post--looking forward to reading all of your replies!

Maureen

 

[msnoble]

5 1/2 months out...getting very excited. I've been watching airfares for the cruise...OMG! I hope they go down. I really don't want to spend over 2k on air. I'm hoping Southwest or JetBlue will have some kind of sale. How's everyone else doing with booking air?

We booked our airfare on AirTran in late July--was watching fares daily and they dipped briefly so we pounced. We got direct flights out of Detroit into MCO (Orlando), leaving Friday (day before the cruise) and returning the following Saturday for a little over $800 for the 3 of us (my DH isn't able to cruise with us this time). I'm not sure it was the absolute lowest fare (we still have to pay for bags), but it fell within my range and I was glad to be able to fly into MCO direct (we had also looked at flying into Tampa, but that is a much longer drive to Port Canaveral).

I kept checking travel.bing.com which is a site that does comparisons for flights, and that is how I caught this particular fare--but I always book directly on the specific airline's website when I buy the actual tickets.

HTH--keeping my fingers crossed that some good fares come your way!

 

[micheleq]

You can add us to the list! Myself & DH, DD6 and DD4 will also be escaping Michigan in February!

I'm trying to do some legwork and learn about the ports & excursions as well. This is our first cruise and everyone is excited

 

[micheleq]

We booked our airfare on AirTran in late July--was watching fares daily and they dipped briefly so we pounced. We got direct flights out of Detroit into MCO (Orlando), leaving Friday (day before the cruise) and returning the following Saturday for a little over $800 for the 3 of us (my DH isn't able to cruise with us this time). I'm not sure it was the absolute lowest fare (we still have to pay for bags), but it fell within my range and I was glad to be able to fly into MCO direct (we had also looked at flying into Tampa, but that is a much longer drive to Port Canaveral).

I kept checking travel.bing.com which is a site that does comparisons for flights, and that is how I caught this particular fare--but I always book directly on the specific airline's website when I buy the actual tickets.

HTH--keeping my fingers crossed that some good fares come your way!

We are flying AirTran on those same days. I usually try and stick to Delta but the price on AirTran was much more reasonable. AirTran will be taken over by SW by that time, so I am wondering if the seating assignments will change? Hope not. We are staying at the Courtyard the night before.

Nicsmom - I'd book air as soon as you can. Most of the East Coast has that week off from school. My in-laws are all in Hanover, MA and they have that week off, as do many schools in SW Connecticut (where we moved from). After last winter I bet alot of people will be hightailing it out of town that break! Good luck!

 

[jasec2]

Hi Maureen,
How was the Alaska cruise? Any pics I have seen look amazing!! I am on Facebook so would be up for doing a group on it. We booked an excursion for Mexico already based on DISboard recs. It is Nachi Cocum (sp?). I figured it would be good for my boys (3 and 4 at time of cruise) with the pool, beach, food and bathrooms. People have said it is nice. I would like to hear what some other people are doing or have done in the past as well!!!
Jessica

 

[msnoble]

Hi Jessica!
The Alaska cruise was really incredible--thanks for asking! We really enjoyed having a couple of days to check out Vancouver pre-cruise, and then Alaska was just phenomenal. I think DH and I will go back some day without the kids, as I'd love to do a land/sea combination.

if you are interested, here is a link to some of the photos I took--I took more than 1700 pics total over the course of the whole vacation!

http://flic.kr/s/aHsjvN97ZX

Thanks for the tip on Nachi Cocom--it looks very cool! I may look into that for us--we want to have at least one port day where we are just hanging out on the beach and that looks like a nice one.

I will look into the FB group thing and let people know what the best way to join might be.

Maureen

 

[Nicsmom]

Thanks for the advice about the flight...ugg...just keeps going up. I keep watching every day. I've flown this week a couple of years ago and paid more than usual but this is crazy. I'll have to hop on it soon.

We would like to be part of the FE exchange as well. It's me, DH, DD 18 and DS 7. I'm not totally clear as to how it works but I'm sure more details will follow. I am also on facebook.

We have no idea on what excursions we'll do. I think we'll just walk around Key West...sounds like an easy place to get around and explore. I read somewhere that you can rent a Jeep for $50 in Grand Caymen. I've always wanted to swim with the dolphins. So, we'll may do that in Cozumel. Very loose plan right now. I have to do a lot more research.

 

[msnoble]

Well fellow cruisers, we have just about 5 months until our cruise! Can't believe how quickly it is coming up--I am getting excited

So without further ado...

Tell me about Fish Extenders!
For those folks who may not be familiar with them, Fish Extenders (FEs) are basically hanging pockets which can be (temporarily) attached to the metal Fish that sits outside each stateroom door. They can be made fairly easily, and you can also order them to be custom-made through sites like eBay and etsy. Here is a link from the FAQ that describes the extender itself:
http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=33184281&postcount=2

People on the meet thread sign up if they are interested, and then we participate in a gift exchange over the course of the cruise. From experience I can say that it is a lot of fun—both finding the trinkets in your own FE as well as traveling the ship and delivering goodies

Gift Exchange Guidelines:

1. You can give any kind of gift you want, any way you want. It can be one gift for the whole cabin, one gift for kids and one gift for adults, or individual gifts for each person, or some other combination I didn't list. Bear in mind that the pockets for most FEs are not terribly wide or deep, so keeping gifts small does make it easier to ensure that they will stay in the pocket after you deliver them!
Here is a link to a thread for homemade FE gifts, in case you are looking for ideas and wanted to make something yourself:
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1980639

2. Nobody should feel like they need to "break the bank"--not on the gifts, shipping, or luggage fees. This should be fun, not a burden on anyone.

3. To keep the quantities manageable, I will limit the size of the group to 15 cabins—if we have more than 15 cabins participating I will break the list into different groups. More details on that if/when the need arises

3. You can deliver your gifts any day or time you want, as long as they are delivered before noon on 2/24/12.

4. Nobody will be added to the FE list after 1/6/12, although latecomers may form their own FE exchange group if they wish. After 1/6 the list is fixed.

5. To sign up, please post a reply here with the following information: DISboards name, Stateroom number, room occupants with ages for kids, Special info (allergies/food restrictions/celebrations on board, etc). If you are not comfortable leaving names here on the boards, I will also be maintaining the same list on our closed Facebook group--please PM me your specifics and I will include them there. If you are a regular poster here, and you didn't get a PM from me already re: the Facebook group, please PM me and I will send you an invite.

DISboards Meet & Greet:
Whether or not you are participating in the FE, you are welcome at the cruise get-together. We are planning to have it on the ‘Secret Deck’ located on Deck 7 Aft (all the way at the back of the ship) at 3 p.m. on embarkation day (2/18/12). Kids and teens are of course welcome—it’s especially a great way for them to meet up before they head off to the Club/Lab/Edge/Vibe.

Please feel free to let me know if there is anything else you'd like me to add or change to the above info--looking forward to February 18th!
Maureen

ps: special thanks to Mellers, who organized the FE exchange on my last cruise, and from whom I borrowed several of the above items

 

[msnoble]

DISname Stateroom Occupants Special Requests
1. msnoble 1037 Maureen, Erica (13), Russell (11) No sticky/chewy candy for Erica
2. msnoble's 1039 Debbie, Zoe (13), Isabel (10)
friends

3. rubbergypsy 6099 Liz, DD (11)
4. rubbergypsy's 7541 Debbie, DD(12)
friends
5. rubbergypsy's 7539 Kay, DD(15), DS(10)
friends

6. Pixi Stix 2036 Dena, Paul, Tyler (16), Matthew (10)

7. nikitta28 6606 Shawn, Patrick(11), Nicholas(9), Brendan(6)
8. nikitta28 6607 Nancy, Abigale(9), DD(7)
9. nikitta28 6609 Patricia, Mian(13), Avah(11),
10. nikitta28’s 6030 Kim, Tim, Madeline (13), Timmy (12)
friends (Rasmussin Family)

11. nicsmom 8514 Sheri, Mike, Nicole(18), Michael (7)

12. pmbunny ??? Robin, DH, DS(18), DS(17), DS(14), DS(13)**he may not sail at the last moment

13. jaober 6062 John, Cathy, Alex(8), Elizabeth(6)

14. loewymartin 7574 Michelle, Ken, DD(9), DD(6)

15. spunky1968 6138 Susan, Paul, Paul(4)

 

[msnoble]

I also added a Roll Call list to the first post of this thread with all of the folks who have joined the thread so far. Please let me know if I got your information wrong!

http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=40124762&postcount=1

Maureen

 

[rubbergypsy]

we would be happy to join fe. participated last magic cruise. i cannot answer for debbie and kay right now but they also did the fe last time also, i will keep you posted. we received such fun goodies last fe, some were homemade others were not. we were all assigned a specific day to deliver that way you received something every day of the cruise. no one delivered first or disembarkation day. it was easy and it was fun. we did do a cruise meet on the first day, not everyone showed up. some people made a lasting friendship. still playing airfare game, can go for cheap on wednesday evening just not sure i can take that much time off of work. really just want to leave friday, farecast says to wait for dropping fares, they usually are correct.

 

[msnoble]

we were all assigned a specific day to deliver that way you received something every day of the cruise. no one delivered first or disembarkation day.

Yeah, I thought about having everyone assigned a day. I've been on cruises where we've done it both ways (assigned and unassigned)--I'm happy to assign days if that is the general consensus. I have to say though, that I did appreciate the flexibility of delivering the gifts when it was easiest for me, and not on a specific day, and my kids understood that there might not be gifts every day because of that flexibility.

Once we get a little closer to sail date I can post a poll and we can let majority rule

 

[Nicsmom]

Hi there! We recently booked our cruise for Feb. 18. It will be our second Disney cruise. Thought I'd come on here and see if I can get to know others before we go We used our DVC points, and with leaving on President's Day weekend, the kids will only miss 4 days of school, instead of 6. Our oldest son (will be 18 come October) isn't real keen on missing school, but since he's a senior, won't have many more chances to come along on these big family vacations. We've got 4 other boys, ages (at time of cruise anyways) 17, 14, and 13.

We live in Michigan's upper peninsula, and I have to tell you, I am already looking forward to a nice warm cruise mid February!
-Robin

Hi Robin,
Glad to see there will be some older teens on the cruise. My DD turns 18 just before the cruise. We feel the same way about being one of the last family trips for a while. So looking forward to leaving the February snow in MA. They are predicting a harsh winter for New England. I'm sure we'll be ready for some warm sunny days.

 

[msnoble]

Hope everyone is doing well

I've started collecting images for magnets--here is one that is general for our week, in case anyone else is interested--it comes courtesy of scooby3x1y (click the thumbnail to go to the site where you can download the image):



I am still trying to figure out excursions--any feedback from those of you who've done the Western Caribbean itinerary before?

I also included a link to the post with the current FE participants in my signature, to avoid having to search through the thread

Maureen