February 23, 2008 Magic Western

[gweeptrish]

Happy Thanksgiving to all US cruisers - we celebrated Thanksgiving in October here in Canada!

Also, happy 3 months and 1 day!!!! I am getting ready to go online on Saturday at midnight to make reservations!

I'm not going to bother. If I can't get reservations at a reasonable hour of the day then I'm just going to wait until I get onboard. There's always some slots open for on-board booking.

-Trish

 

[mastmi]

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! And even better, happy three months til our cruise! Woohoo!
Michelle

 

[stulaurie]

Boy that was easy!!!!

Just booked Palo Brunch, and got the time and date that I wanted. At first it said that there was an error, but then I remembered that someone said to log out and then back in. I got in at 12:04am and all of the Brunch times were still available except for Thursday at 11:00 and 11:30.

Hope everyone got what they wanted.

 

[cdndizzylizzy]

Boy that was easy!!!!

Just booked Palo Brunch, and got the time and date that I wanted. At first it said that there was an error, but then I remembered that someone said to log out and then back in. I got in at 12:04am and all of the Brunch times were still available except for Thursday at 11:00 and 11:30.

Hope everyone got what they wanted.

I did get everything that I wanted! Palo brunch was the main attraction for us, and we got the date and time we wanted no problem. DH told me while I was logged in to book a pedicure in the spa - so that is also booked!

 

[gweeptrish]

I just booked our shore excursions, the pedicure I wanted, and Flounder's time for our DD. As of 5 minutes ago there was still *plenty* of Palo spots left too.

 

[mastmi]

Elizabeth, I am in the process of reading your trip report from last year right now and just wanted to tell you how much I am enjoying it! Thanks for taking the time to make it so detailed. I didn't think anything could get me more excited for our trip, but your report definitely is!
Michelle

 

[disneytraceyl]

Is anyone doing the fish extenders?
Are we going to plan a meet on the cruise?
Coming soon....

 

[gweeptrish]

Is anyone doing the fish extenders?
Are we going to plan a meet on the cruise?
Coming soon....

I'm all for fish extenders. Sounds like fun.

 

[hjensen]

I would like to do one also, but do any of you know here we can get one? I know a lot of DISers make theirs and I am not that handy as far as sewing goes!

 

[gweeptrish]

I've heard you can find them on ebay, but I don't know anything about it myself. I'm planning to make one, assuming my 1 year old ever lets me near my sewing room.

 

[AllPrincessMander]

Hello everyone. Glad to have found this site. We have just registered for our first family cruise. My husband, and two daughters and myself will be on board on Feb 23rd and we are all excited (husband less so). My daughters are 5 and 3. We have cat 4 (but on wait list for cat 2 or 3). We stayed at Animal Kingdom last year for our family vacation and didn't realize the cruises would be booked so quickly and in advance.

Wondering if anyone has any recommendations for the excursions - given our girls' age? We were planning on just going to the beach on Cozomel and Grand Cayman but thought that $100 per person seemed steep for just transportation. Can you just grab a cab and get to the same beaches as the rest of the Cruise people (or do you have better beaches to recommend)?

Thanks and looking forward to hearing from everyone. If anyone else has young girls - we are hoping to meet you - we are also hoping that our girls will like the kids programs so we can have some couple time.

 

[AllPrincessMander]

What are fish extenders? (being a first time cruiser I an unsure what these are)

 

[hjensen]

AllPrincessMander! I know that on our first cruise our DS was 3 at the time. We decided to do the semi-submarine in Grand Cayman. He loved it. From reading what other people have wrote I think that it is very easy (and a lot less costly) to grab a cab and head to the beaches in port. I think a lot of people book thru Disney for security. (No chance of being late and missing the ship!)

If you happen to look at pics while on the DISboards you will notice a little fish right on the side of everyones stateroom door. They have a little hook on there. Sometimes if there is an announcement or reminders from the staff, they will put it on there. Some people (DISers) will make or buy little pocket door organizers (Disney themed of course) and hang it from the fish.That way other DISers can leave little treats in there for their family!!

I hope this helps!!!!

 

[disneytraceyl]

Welcome
We are really excited about the trip. Lately we have been getting lots of snow. I am sure I will need some warmth and sunshine by then.
We are staying in a Cat 11 ~ 7065

 

[cdndizzylizzy]

Hi AllPrincess and stulaurie - I have added your details to our cruise listing!

http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=18468602&postcount=50

AllPrincess: We are just a short hour away from you up the 403 in Woodstock! Our DD Riley is 6. We are also starting to get very excited about the cruise!

 

[cdndizzylizzy]

Welcome Aboard Michelle!


As far as excursions go the only one I am doing is the scuba diving in Cozumel. We did Xcaret and Stingray swim in 2006. The last time we were in Key West was 1995 just the DW and I then. I would like to take the kids to the aquarium and go back to a neat little bar called Turtle Kraal's. The rest of the time will be spent on the beach or by the pool. I was told I was not allowed to drag anyone all over the island's again.

What were your impressions of the XCaret excursion? We have booked it as our main excursion for the 2008 cruise. I have read several reviews, so I know that it takes a while to get there, but the underwater river sounds really neat, and the beaches look beautiful. It really looks like a "getaway"...

 

[FF/MEDIC MEL]

What were your impressions of the XCaret excursion? We have booked it as our main excursion for the 2008 cruise. I have read several reviews, so I know that it takes a while to get there, but the underwater river sounds really neat, and the beaches look beautiful. It really looks like a "getaway"...

Personally I love it. We would go again this time but the DW wants to curb fruitless spending. LOL It does take a long time to get there. First you need to catch a ferry from the ship. At least we did on RCL. That took about 45-50 minutes over rough seas to get to Playa del Carmen. If you get seasick be prepared. Then it is another 30-45 minute drive to Xcaret on a bus. Once you arrive, there are some exhibits to look at as you make your way to the underground river. The river is a nice lazy ride but nothing marine wise to see. The water is clear and there are some dark areas you float through. At the end of the river there is a little gift shop overlooking the ocean. There are also some natural stone pools along the coastline. Further along are some restaurants along the beaches with tables and thatched covered tables. There are many areas to choose to swim at. Be aware these lead to the ocean and can be full of colorful fish along with barracudas. No shiny jewelery! There is also more exhibits near the turtle farm along with aquariums. There is another area to snorkel at over here. It is not a beach per se but a rocky cove. Careful because it can get slippery. My suggestion is to snorkel away from the groups. You see more this way. You should also be an above average swimmer in this area, as it drops off fast. I wouldn't recommend it for young children. If you swim out far enough to the ocean there is a railing under the water you can hold onto and watch the fish. There is also a lot of animals to look at plus some small ruins to walk through. My favorite swimming area was the lagoon in the middle of the park but they have since closed this area off to swimmers. There are manatees in here now. We never saw them though. The lagoon is bordered by the fresh water cenotes on one side with a underwater tunnel linking the ocean to the lagoon. There was a tremendous amount of colorful fish in here. Also be on the look out for large iguanas all over. They have a habit of turning up unexpectedly. Also if you enjoy flavorful tropical drinks I highly recommend the pineapple drinks. This is a cocktail in a carved out pineapple. Expensive but delicious. Due to a language barrier, I never did find out what liquor is in them but man they are good! Hope this helps. If you have any other questions just ask.

Mel

 

[AllPrincessMander]

Cdndizzylizy
For the records of your board, my DD names are Paige (5) and Tessa (3) so maybe our daughter's would be in the Oceaneer's Club together . We are in 8084 but still hoping for a cancellation of someone in a cat 2 or 3.

76 days and counting everyone!!!

 

[mastmi]

Wow! 76 days sounds sooo much better than 2 months, 2 weeks! It'll be here before we know it!

My daughter Julia (7) would really like to get to know some of the other kids before we cruise. We were talking about trying to be pen pals with some of the kids her age. Would anyone be interested in doing this with us? I think/hope it will make her more comfortable about going into the kids clubs if she can meet up there with someone she "knows."

I'm not sure the best way to go about it. We could e-mail, snail mail, or start a thread for them here? Julia is a pretty good writer, but not the fastest typist. I can help her out by typing what she wants to say if someone would be interested in doing it that way. But I bet she would also really enjoy sending and receiving "real" letters and drawings via snail mail. Anyone up for something like this?
Michelle

 

[cdndizzylizzy]

Wow! 76 days sounds sooo much better than 2 months, 2 weeks! It'll be here before we know it!

My daughter Julia (7) would really like to get to know some of the other kids before we cruise. We were talking about trying to be pen pals with some of the kids her age. Would anyone be interested in doing this with us? I think/hope it will make her more comfortable about going into the kids clubs if she can meet up there with someone she "knows."

I'm not sure the best way to go about it. We could e-mail, snail mail, or start a thread for them here? Julia is a pretty good writer, but not the fastest typist. I can help her out by typing what she wants to say if someone would be interested in doing it that way. But I bet she would also really enjoy sending and receiving "real" letters and drawings via snail mail. Anyone up for something like this?
Michelle

Hi Michelle,

My two girls have been begging to get started on a Feb 23, 2008 Kids Thread, and they will be very happy if you start one, as I told them they had to wait until after Christmas! There was a kids' thread for our cruise last year, and they had lots of fun getting to know the other kids that were going to be on our cruise. You should know that I think you have to be 12 years old to create a profile on the DIS, so we decided just to use our logins and help our kids type their messages...