February 21, 2009 Magic Western Caribean

[pouncingpluto]

Hey guys... I'm in Berlin for the summer, doing a law internship, and I've started a blog. If anyone's interested, here's the link:

http://flyaway2010.wordpress.com/

See you all in 282 days.

 

[stacieps]

This morning I booked the Hyatt at MCO for the night before the cruise (2/20). We are flying down from NH on Friday afternoon arriving at MCO around 6:30, so we decided staying there was easiest (it's what we did for our 1/08 cruise). I got the Hyatt on Hotwire for $83 - great deal!

So, DCL is booked, flights are booked, and pre-cruise hotel is booked. Now I just need to book our transport from MCO to port, and start looking at what we want to do in the ports. We will be visiting Key West and Cozumel on a different cruiseline this summer, so I'll probably wait to decide on those activies based on what we do in August. We've done Stingray City in Grand Cayman, so I'll have to see what else there is.

Researching and planning is a big part of the trip for me - although it drives my husband nuts!

 

[tevagirl]

Popping in for a hello. Hope everyone is well.

 

[mc2]

Ahhh...if only the cruise weren't so far away! Ugh! We had snow here on Mother's Day (fabulous little surprise "treat"...yeah, right!). We've been booked for over 3 months now, and it's still as all-consuming as it ever was! The novelty of it has definitely NOT worn off as the weeks go by! And yes, I've started buying summer clothes for the kids (wishful thinking! ha ha!), but everything will be slightly too big all summer because I'm hoping they will still fit into it in February...Finding summer clothes up here in January will be impossible!

 

[Donald&Tinkerbell]

I know how you feel, we've booked 5 1/2 months, but it is definitely getting closer. And we got our passports in the mail Friday, just 1 week after applying!

 

[mcraft17]

We booked last month and my DH thinks I am so funny because I will say " Only X months and X days till the cruise"! He doesn't get that excited till we are about a month away. And I have to watch what I say around DD since we aren't telling her till Christmas. I have already begun thinking about our door signs and tshirt design for the first day.

 

[Donald&Tinkerbell]

He's been counting since we made the booking, 400 and something days ago. So don't feel bad, and he counts by days, at least you do months.

 

[stacieps]

I figure it is about time for a group list, so here it is:

Donald&Tinerbell *** Robby with DH Mike (30th anniversary)
Stacieps *** Stacie with DH Doug, DD(11), and DS(9)
Tevagirl *** Denise with DH Joe and *** DD- Jill, DH Aj, DS(15), DS(4)
IndyDisneyFan *** Laura with DH (15th annivesary)
Mc2 *** with DH (2MC), 2 children, parents
Strega7 *** Marci with DH, DS(9), mom, dad, sister
pouncingpluto *** with DH
Cindarella&Dopey *** (honeymoon)
Hanny&AlsMom *** Carolyn with DH, DD(8), DS(5)
mcraft17 *** with DH, DD(12)
TheLionKing *** with parents


Robby, you can copy and paste this into Post 1 if you'd like so that new comers can easily see the group.

 

[Hanny&AlsMom]

Stacie - thanks for doing up that list! It's great to see at a glance who will be joining us in just 9 short months

Carolyn

 

[Donald&Tinkerbell]

I have edited the 1st post to include the list. Thanks so much.

 

[mc2]

Hi,
Is Stacie really "Stef"? You said that "Stef" did the list, but I thought it was Stacie. Just trying to clarify, and I don't have enough posts yet to be allowed to PM or email....1 more to go before I can PM...;-)
Thanks!

 

[Donald&Tinkerbell]

That's what I get for trying too many things at once. You see, I was doing something elsce & DH was reading the thread (he hadn't read the whole thing yet) and let me know that Staci had made the list and suggested I paste it into the 1st post). I asked him to do it since he was at the computer. He didn't know how (you are a computer tech, honey) so I went over & did it real quick. Don't know where Steff came from. Thanks for noticing MC2 and I am sorry Staci. And 268 days.

Which reminds me, we're coming in on Friday. Yes, I know we're only 150 miles away. That's how paranoid we are that we'll miss the ship. Is anyone else & if so do you know where you're planning to stay?

 

[mc2]

Hi!
Thanks for clarifying! I was just trying to figure out if/how I had missed someone along the way that was also on the cruise!
We're also coming down the night before, and we have a room booked at the Radisson Resort at the Port. We're going to rent a car to go from MCO to the hotel (return it at the office in the area), and then use the hotel shuttle to get to the port the next morning.

 

[Donald&Tinkerbell]

I'd offer to pick you up at MCO and save you the rental fee. I think we're going to stay at the Radisson also. It's actually cheaper to stay there & leave the car there than to park at the port. Unfortunately, it will be full with just us & luggage.

 

[mc2]

You are too sweet! Thanks for even wishfully thinking of us that way. Chances are we'll be having to rent two minivans to get the 6 of us down there with all of our luggage! We're just going to do a one-day/one-way rental, and then we don't have to worry about anything. We'll be taking the Disney transfers for the trip back to the airport. Dad is hoping there will be a launch the Friday night, but no signs of anything on the schedule so far. FYI, when I booked back in March (I'm a tad obsessive with planning this trip! ), the girl at the Radisson told me that if the prices dropped closer to the date, we could still be eligible for the cheaper price? Not sure how much truth there is to that statement (and not holding out for it), but it's worth looking into closer to the date.
Still waiting for the "booking high" from the day we booked the cruise to wear off...nothing yet!

 

[Donald&Tinkerbell]

I'll give you the price we get when I book, but I would have thought they'd go up for Spring Break, course they're not on the beach so maybe that's why they go down. We'll see.

 

[mcraft17]

We are flying in the night before too. We will probably stay near WDW since that is what we did last time and go shopping at DTD. We are hoping to maybe add a day at the parks for Sat. when we return, but it depends on what the best price for flights are. We had a good one with Airtran ($165 per person round trip) but we waited too long and they were gone. Here's hoping we can still find a cheap flight.

 

[pouncingpluto]

I'm not sure yet what we'll do... I'm leaning toward flying down Friday morning, going to a park, and spending Friday night at a DVC resort on points. Using ME and DCL transfers. We won't buy our airfare for a few months at least.

 

[Donald&Tinkerbell]

Ok, I booked online & got it for a total of $120, which isn't cheaper than parking in the terminal lot, but makes DH feel more secure. I'll have to ask Shirley for a good seafood restaurant that has a good steak for him so I can get some seafood. 255 days!

 

[strega7]

Yah! 255 days....the counter on my computer died at 280 days so I was wondering how many days left. We are flying down on thurs...staying at the Residence Inn...Renting a car...and already bought airfare. I got our airfare the first day I could, I was worried about the gas prices going up and airfare going up. I go the airfare for $470...which isn't great, but when I looked the other day, the same airfare was $1300 . I guess that is what I get for living in little town nowhere and lucky to have 3 carriers flying us in and out of here.

Marci