February 7, 2004 Eastern

[disneygal58]

Hello,
I've been watching for a thread dedicated to this cruise. If one has been started please direct me, if not here goes :

This will be our 6th Disney Cruise and our first 7 night Eastern. We have sailed 2 - 3 nights/ 2 - 4 nights and a 7 night Western Caribbean. My DDErin aged 18 and myself look forward to meeting/planning along with our fellow cruisers.
I look forward to hearing from the rest of you,
Dawn Hope

 

[Annie12345]

Hi Dawn Hope - we will be sailing with you... we're starting out on the January 31st Western and will be staying onboard for the Feb. 7th eastern... This will be our second eastern DCL and first western DCL. We also did a two-day cruise to Nassau on another cruise line a few years ago... I will be sailing with my husband Randy and our daughter Jaclyn (10). We are soooo excited!!!
- Annie

 

[sbatty]

We will be sailing with you as well. This is our first cruise of any type but we are huge Disney fans. I will be cruising with my DH, DD (celebrating 4th B-Day onboard), DS (5), my Father and my DH's mother.

- Susan

 

[disneygal58]

Hello Annie and Susan,
Let the planning begin! My eldest daughter will be back to school in Colorado and not able to sail with us this time - I've suffered from some temporary guilt, but Meg has been very supportive about Erin and I going without her. We have never sailed the Eastern route and are anxious to hear about what excursions people are considering.
We live a half hour from the Port and go to Disney on a regular basis. If I can help you out in any way - with surprize planning gifts/postcards,hotel recommendations, directions etc... Disney is my passion. I look forward to meeting you.

Dawn

Susan,
Be sure to let DCL (and if you're staying at Disney prior - your hotel) know that you are celebrating a birthday. The Parks are wonderful about making his day extraordinary.

 

[Annie12345]

Hi Dawn and Susan - The eastern itinerary is great... we did it last year... We will likely not do any excursions as we like to hit the shops for a bit in the morning, then spend the rest of the day at the beach.... last year, we just went to beaches that were quite close to the pier but we might venture out a bit further this time... I was checking out the disney website earlier this week and it looks like the St. Martin stop might extend later into the evening than it did last year... it would be neat to be docked at night... we truly enjoyed both St. Thomas and St. Martin last year....
Dawn, you are just too lucky to be living so close to disney (and somewhere so warm)... any tips you can provide would be much appreciated... all we have ever done at Cocoa Beach is Ron Jon's, and of course the beach itself... A few years ago we were fortunate enough to watch a shuttle launch, and our DD did a report complete with pictures when she got back to school...
Susan, you will love cruising... it's the very best way to vacation - you get to see lots of different things/cultures; also the best entertainment is right at your fingertips, the people you meet are wonderful, and then there's the food!!! Once we tried it, we were hooked!!!
Have a disney day,
Annie

 

[disneygal58]

Hello,
I can't wait to hear about sailing back to back - I hope to do the same in the next year or two. I loved the Western itinerary and am anxious to try the Eastern. Other than exploring the town a bit, I think we will check out the beaches - Megan's Bay is often recommended.
I know that we are fortunate to live so close to the object of my obsession. We have only been here for 13 months -I, too am from cold weather country, Colorado.
As far as what to do in the area, let me know how long you will be staying here. I work as a Massage Therapist at a lovely Spa and frequent Ron Jon's and the beaches as well as the Disney Parks. We have "Planning Parties" in anticipation of an upcoming cruise, complete with small Disney or cruise related gifts. If anyone else does the same, I would be happy to pick up little local trinkets and send them to you.

Enjoy,
Dawn

 

[Annie12345]

The planning parties sound like a great idea ...my husband thinks I am in a steady planning party state from the moment one trip ends to the start of the next holiday. You shouldn't have told us that you are a massage therapist, we might want to put you to work... I think Megan's Bay sounds really nice as well... we have a friend that used to live on both islands and he's promised to give us some tips about "do not miss" places... I'll post them as soon as we hear about them... we will be staying in the disney area (Royal Palms Resort - we've never stayed here before so we're hoping it's okay) for a week following the cruise but will likely go back to Cocoa at least once.

- Annie

 

[disneygal58]

Happy Twenty Week Countdown!!!!!

Dawn

 

[tink&cinderella]

Finally, a thread for the February 7th Eastern Cruise.
We will be travelling with you. This will be our first cruise ever. We are very excited. We will be at CBR the week prior to the cruise. Not really sure what to expect with a 5 1/2 year old and a 21 months old. Any warmer weather will be great then what we will likely have in the great white north. See you all there.

 

[sbatty]

The way I see it . . . September is almost over and we are going at the beginning of February so we only have 4 months until we go.

My husband is putting together a simple website to help with our cruise planning. We are trying to coordinate between three families and thought it would be a good way to share information on dining options, transportation, etc. I was thinking about adding a "Who's cruising with us" list similar to what Verandah Man did on his site. If anyone would like to be included on the list just let me know. It would be fun to include a picture if you have one so we can associate names with faces.

I'll let you know the web address when the site is up and running.

-Susan

 

[disneygal58]

Tink & Cinderella,
Welcome! The planning is part of the fun of the cruise experience. I really like CBR - I know it gets mixed reviews, but i think it's beautiful. A word of caution - if you are going to use the DCL bus to the Port, CBR is one of the last pickup stops. The bus ride is fun and informative, but you will arrive after 1 in the afternoon.

Susan,
I'm excited to see (and be a part of ) your website!

Take care,
Dawn

 

[Annie12345]

Susan - we would be pleased to be part of your website. What a great idea! I could email you a picture but I can't figure out how to include a picture in our signature here...

Welcome Tink&Cinderella - we cruised the Eastern same time last year, and the weather was perfect!! You will love it! We also spent the week prior to the cruise in Orlando and the weather was great there also... the only day it was chilly was the day the ship left Port Canaveral, but once we had been at sea for a few hours, it cleared up, and was smooth sailing from that point forward...

- Annie

 

[tink&cinderella]

We were thinking of getting a town car service to do all of our transportation. What is a good time to get to the Port? Can you get into your cabin as soon as you board. Do you bring your own luggage right on board or is it brought for you??


Thanks.

 

[Annie12345]

We used Cartier last year, and found them to be very reasonable. We booked a limo and it was only $100 plus tip (most of the others were in the $160 range)...

We got to the port around 11:00 a.m. and once we checked in, etc., stood in line for about 45 minutes before the line started moving.... we went straight to our stateroom, dropped off our carryon luggage, then made our Palo reservations, and off to brunch... it worked out fine for us but I have heard that sometimes you can't get into your room too early. You will check your luggage (except for your carryons) which will arrive in your stateroom hopefully before 5:00... Our luggage was in our room by 3:30...

have a disney day,
Annie

 

[disneygal58]

I second Annie's reply. The closer to 12 that you are able to arrive the better. We have always been able to drop off our bags in our stateroom as soon as we have boarded, but have heard that other people were not able to get in until 1:30.
I am a fairly new resident to Florida (although I vacationed here each year). Last February we were able to get to the beaches again, albeit the water was a bit too brisk for my liking. Bring layers of clothing and you will be fine. I always need some type of jacket/shawl for the heavily air conditioned areas on the ship.

Less than 19 weeks to go,
Dawn Hope

 

[disneygal58]

FOUR MONTHS TO GO!!!!
I am thrilled to announce that my mom and sister will be joining us on our cruise. My mother is a well seasoned traveller -has cruised most other lines and was hesitant to pay the Disney price. My sister has never cruised. I am so excited to play tour guide of the ship and the "Disney Experience" for them.
I am heading to the Parks the weekend of the 19th for MNSSH Party - if I can pick anything up for anyone let me know.
Happy Planning,
Dawn

 

[mrsdon]

I am thrilled to finally see this list.
We're also going on theFeb 6th eastern.
It will just be me and DH.
This will be out 2nd Disney crusie, but our 1st 7 day one.
Im sooooo excited.

 

[disneygal58]

Welcome mrsdon (and perhaps mrdon)! When did you last sail DCL?
Dawn

 

[mrsdon]

Our 1st Disney cruise was the member cruise last Feb.
If someone is really good with computers, maybe we could start a mailing list with a weekly countdown timer and if people are going on excursions, maybe they could add that kind of info. I am computer challenged, so it cant be me.

 

[disneygal58]

I have tried several times to add the countdown timer to my posts but I cannot seem to get it to work.
I'd like to hear excursion ideas, also. At the moment we are planning to go to Megan's Bay on our own and just shop a bit in St. Maarten.
Dawn