February 7, 2009 Western early check in!

[Namsupak]

Jen - You can leave your car at the airport in long term parking or extended stay parking... but I think the cheapest is $7 a day. So if you leave Friday and come back on the 14th, then you'll spend $63 on parking alone. Long term parking is $12 a day but you don't have to wait for a shuttle. We're staying at the Four Points Sheraton and it cost $95 plus tax... and they have a shuttle 24/7 so we are just leaving our car there. You can leave your car for up to 14 days. So it might not be such a bad idea for you guys to head over on Thursday night and stay at a hotel... there were a couple hotels that were cheaper but we had to do the sheraton for the 24/7 shuttle. The days inn was only $67. Check out parksleepfly.com A thursday might give you an even better deal

I've been trying on clothes and trying to decide what to pack and take. At least we have all our FE stuff together... just not labeled yet James is on call Sat though so I'll have all day to work on cruise stuff.

 

[JRandAJsMom]

Jen - You can leave your car at the airport in long term parking or extended stay parking... but I think the cheapest is $7 a day. So if you leave Friday and come back on the 14th, then you'll spend $63 on parking alone. Long term parking is $12 a day but you don't have to wait for a shuttle. We're staying at the Four Points Sheraton and it cost $95 plus tax... and they have a shuttle 24/7 so we are just leaving our car there. You can leave your car for up to 14 days. So it might not be such a bad idea for you guys to head over on Thursday night and stay at a hotel... there were a couple hotels that were cheaper but we had to do the sheraton for the 24/7 shuttle. The days inn was only $67. Check out parksleepfly.com A thursday might give you an even better deal

the $7 doesn't sound too bad... And DH will say that the $63 is cheaper than a hotel, haha I just hope that he's going to be up and helping me with two crabby boys in the morning... Although I don't know how crabby anyone can be waking up early to get out of this weather!!!

Has everything down there been closed too, or is it just a Panhandle thing??? It's looking like we're not going to have school tomorrow either... But I guess that's what happens when you build your biggest school in the county on top of a big hill... no one can get up it to go!!!

 

[frostrhonda]

We're late dinning also

My Bday is Thursday Feb 12

Real Name:
Susan Errington
DD Monica

Hi Susan!
To cool that you get to celebrate your birthday on the cruise! Are you traveling with your kids?? Mine teenagers will be staying home this year. I requested to be seated with others though. It is cool to meet other people and have lots to talk about! I hope to get to meet you!! I am a "social butterfly!" I always love to meet everyone! I hope I am using this right!!!
Rhonda Frost

 

[dceks cruisers]

Does anyone remember if the voucher for a 3 night cruise good for later this year that we're supposed to get is for $99/night per person or $99/person for the whole cruise? I may be dreaming on the latter price but just wondering.

Thanks,

Connie

 

[frostrhonda]

frostrhonda: Welcome!!

ABSOLUTELY! All adults are invited to come to the birthday celebration...I mean, after all....we all DO have a birthday sometime in 2009 right? No exclusions, just come and enjoy!

My birthday is March 6, so I guess you could say I am celebrating early!!! So, wheres the party?! I love partys!!
Rhonda

 

[frostrhonda]

yes Rhonda, this is indeed the 2/7/09 western thread we are all heading where you are heading, WELCOME! the countdown has begun.....

Hello!!
Love the Help Me Rhonda pun!! To Funny!! Is there a meeting place for this group?? I would love to come! I love meeting people! I am called a social butterfly by all of my friends! My kids are not going, so I need people to talk to besides my husband. He is entertaining, don't get me wrong. But I am a believer in the more people to talk to the merrier!!
Rhonda Frost

 

[MyLove4Disney]

Hello Rhonda,

We are having 2 scheduled meets. The first is on Saturday the 2nd at 2:30 on deck 3 at the mickey statue. The second for the birthday bash will be Sunday evening at 10 in Rock N' Bar D. Others will be heading there at 8pm.

I have links in my signature that will take you to the posts that talk about each.

Thanks Susan

 

[MyLove4Disney]

Hello everyone, I hope that you all had a wonderful day. It sounds like everyone is getting their bags pack with all the odds and ends, Getting laundry done and buying those last minute things.

I wanted to add another reminder. Don't forget to take a power strip.

Today. We made our final recomendation for a 10% cut eliminating programs but it didn't get anyone a pink slip this time, but next year if we have to come up with another 3million, that will be yet another storey. Friday I have to print the final documents and prepare the books for each group. Do last min training. and jump though what ever other hoops they need me to do. I also have to get a laptop set up so I can connect to work while in WDW. I already told them while on the ship there will be no communication as I was not going to foot that bill...


More today regarding cruise. I shipped out my two boxes of FE gifts and the give away tote to the hotel. I hope it makes it there. Otherwise I am going to very sad. It also has a special valentines blanket for our cabin. It said it would be delivery no later than end of day next Thursday. Reverifed with SSR and they said they get shipments all the time. So I can check that off my list

More today, I laminated the name tags and cut them out. I just need to find something so that they can be attached to our lanyards or shirts. I went to Office Depot at 2min to 7pm tonight and they were already closed. I was supprised.

My check list Saturday
Do Hair, mani and pedi. Don't do waxing, I don't have much eyebrows left, I pretty much have to draw my in. Never had much even when I was a young kid.
Pack makeup, jewelry and such, pack magnets, pack passports, pack namebadges, phone chargers, cameras and chargers. power strip.

Sunday
give dog bath, give him a pedi, take him and his dog door to my dads, get his food, bones, and treats so he has a good time also.

Call brother and remind him he is taking DD and I to airport in the morning. Luckly we only live 15 miles for airport.

Print out flight information, car rental information, pup's information, FE list, Main group lists, print out ship information that I have to sign.


OK you guys, did I forget anything?


Oh guess, what. I got a letter from my credit union telling me that my ATM/Visa card has been comprimised and the are canceling and reissueing a new card. and I won't get a new one for 7 to 10 days. Guess when they are closing it off. 2/2/09, the day we leave. I pretty much use this card exclusively, that way I know everything is paid for and I don't have any bills later. The timing sucks. As least I am protected from theft, I'm glad of that.

OK, I think eveyone has probably gone off to bed. Talk to you later...

Susan

 

[marieeb]

Marie: we are 1st time cruisers too & are doing the dolphins too...Dolphin Discovery at Cozumel from 9:45 - 2:55. We're thinking we'll just stay there after the dolphin encounter and snorkel there. It will cost extra but not sure how much. We were going to do our snorkeling at CC but I just canceled the Extreme Getaway with the snorkeling there since the water temp might be too cool w/ avg. temp. at 71 degrees at CC.

Are we doing the same dolphin excursion?

Anyways...the excitement of the trip keeps building up and everyone on the forum is adding value and length of enjoyment to my trip. Thank you everyone!
Connie

Good morning all,

Yes Connie, we are doing the same dolphin swim! My DD9 would, no doubt, enjoy playing with your DD8. And your son too Sabrina! Tell me more about snorkelling. I am hoping to do that, in fact, I was looking at snorkel gear today(now yesterday). Is the gear easily rentable? Is it clean? Maybe its just the nurse part of me, but I'm having trouble with the thought of putting something in my mouth that has been in someone elses. The practical part of me realizes that things can be cleaned and does not relish the expense, packing and lugging about that buying my own would involve, not to mention valuable luggage space!! Does anyone have opinions, or experience with rental of snorkel gear?

I have one more work 'day'(tonight) before our cruise. I am going to make lists of what goes in which suitcase so that in my sleep deprived state on Saturday and Sunday I can just stumble along, checking things off as I put them in the suitcase!

Michele, the only way that I will be meeting you for coffee at four a.m. is if I stay up all night. I'm far better at that than getting up early. Mark, my DH, brings me coffee in the morning. It is the only thing that makes getting out of bed marginally tolerable. By the way I should have looked at a map before I suggested that you 'pop on over' to the Radisson. I should have realized that, when you refered to yourself as local, that it was a relative thing.

Today (Friday) is a PA day so no school here. DH is staying home today while I sleep. What is a delayed start day? Here, the buses are cancelled if the weather is bad but the schools rarely close. We live in the city and don't bus so I send my kid to school on 'snow days' anyway. I am often home but sending her appeases my sense of guilt for pulling her out of school for this trip.

So that's it for now,I think....
till tomorrow when I get my 'fix', take care all,
Marie

 

[princessmeesh]

Connie, you dreaming paid off! it is 99/pp for the entire trip! we are booking over halloween (leaving the 29th) cant wait!!

for some reason i feel waaaaay behind you all! busy bees you are and i am JEALOUS!!! i have packed and unpacked 3 times realizing that i have to wait until last minute to pack workout clothes (cuz they have to all be washed! LOL)

 

[patrsn]

Welcome Rhonda, so excited you decided to join us. I forget that it's not just going to be our 50ish people on this cruise, lol...

So I went to get my haircut yesterday, well just trimmed and my hairdresser talked and talked and ended up cutting me way too short, fine for summer but it's freakin the middle of winter.. I'm horrified... oh well it will be good for vacationing..I'm starting to panic that I've forgotten something, it probably doesn't help that I'm on facebook and disboards constantly, so if you don't see me for a bit I'm just getting stuff done. Looks like facebook is doing maintenence so I can't sign on for a few hours, that should help.

someone asked what a delay was, it means the start of school is delayed for however many hours they give you.. gives them time to clear the ice and sidewalks, get the buses out and such...If they cancelled busses here nobody would go to school, and a lot of our teachers come from out of town so it gives them time to go slowly on the icy roads.

Thats it, I'm off to roust (one of ds's vocab words this week) everyone out of bed to begin the day. cold here 10 degrees...brrrrrrrrr...Have a good day everyone!

Michelle

 

[mickchick6]

SO excited about the next few days. Our house is buzzing with fun! It's almost like everyone is living harmoniously! ALMOST!

I have super high hopes for this weekend, each day has a carefully made list that must be followed to the "T", or else we'll be missing something major.
Oh yea, I think I mentioned before that my kids are actors/models...well yesterday, DS10 gets a call to be in a "Major Motion Picture" (was how it was presented to me). When do they film?.... Saturday! January 31st! So for the sake of his career, I continue to make the arrangements, panicking the whole way, knowing I NEED SATURDAY to pack!

Turns out, they asked me to measure him exactly (so I call the school nurse and ask him to be pulled out of class so she can measure him! Not surprising they think I'm a wackjob!) and he is 2 inches too tall for the part! What a relief!

I mean, the film would've been great, it has Vince Vaughan and Jason Bateman, etc...but I don't see how I could've done all that, it would've been a whole day shoot and of course, he needs a parent on set!

Back to reality once again. As Christian (DS12) just walked by to get into the shower he replied (in response to my being on the computer....again)..."Mom, what are you gonna do when the cruise is over, you'll have nobody to talk to". Hush your mouth, child!!

Have a great day everyone, I'm going dark today in hopes of getting work done!

 

[pgsahm2]

Yep, it's $99 per person for the bounceback. I think we're shooting for the Dec. 17 sailing as that's #2DS's birthday and he asked a few months ago if one year we could go to Disney for his birthday. I figured the cruise would be the next best thing!

Today is report card day in our house. Only about 10 kids in the whole 4th grade got straight A's and our oldest is one of them! Yay!

I have my pedi today. Sadly, I'm excited because it means I get out of the house without a little one in tow. Haha! My best girlfriend is keeping him for me. So I will have a few hours of peace!

Michelle, don't you love vocab words? I'm sorry about your hair. I hate it when that happens! Thankfully the girl who I have gone to for over 2 years now usually does a good job with my mop. I hate the way she styles my hair but love the way she cuts it. Go figure!

Sue, sounds like your busy, busy, busy! Sorry about your card! Yikes, that's really scary. I've had that happen once before and it's not a comforting feeling is it? I need to email dh to remind him to bring home a power strip from work. Thanks for the reminder!

Sabrina, you're right, the Facebook mantra in fact did not work..... Perhaps today? (nope, already screwed it up)

Marie, were you up early or never went to bed? LOL

Michelle V., you're not behind! I have very little actually packed. So far only clothing and a few shoes. We're all going commando at this point and sockless too.

 

[pgsahm2]

Linda, okay, that is very, very cool about your son. I guess that's the perks to living in the city huh? We're country folk and nothing like that will EVER come our way! LOL

And when the cruise is over we're all booking another right? The same one? LOL We need to work out the details now so when we're all onboard we can make sure we book the same one! (kidding... kidding...)

 

[JJCJFL]

Hello!!
Love the Help Me Rhonda pun!! To Funny!! Is there a meeting place for this group?? I would love to come! I love meeting people! I am called a social butterfly by all of my friends! My kids are not going, so I need people to talk to besides my husband. He is entertaining, don't get me wrong. But I am a believer in the more people to talk to the merrier!!
Rhonda Frost

We are also traveling kidless...well, she is 24 and on her own so we will be hanging at the adult pool. We hope to be seated with others at dinner. We eat just the two of us every night and there will be no TV to watch....

Jill

 

[pgsahm2]

You're daily update on the rooms available:

One cat 4 and one cat 9. That's it!

 

[dceks cruisers]

Oh boy, $99 pp/cruise....yippee. Now I just need DH to have SUPER time and like it so much he's onboard with me next time! OK, if he's not, I'm bringing my 3 sisters and using FF miles!

Luckily I'm busy at work otherwise I'm not sure how I'd make it thru the day to get my dose of forum fun! Especially now that work has the forum blocked so I can't access it.

Last weekend was my mother's 83 b-day bash so we were out of town for that, Sunday night was my sister's 2 yr. bible certificate graduation. After her graduation she asked if I'd take the next day off to help her take her 23 yr. daughter (my niece) to an inpatient drug program hours away. It was a very last minute request so that threw me into a whole late night Sunday night get online with work cancel all my meetings, make alternate meeting arrangements. I feel I just settled down from all that and am caught up enough on the missed day with all the work on my plate. I'm so proud that my niece has decided to try and get in control of her addiction. It's something I'm so foreign to but have seen how it can turn a beautiful young woman into someone so dependent. I told her I plan to send her a card from CC just for her.

This weekend the packing needs to get more in gear beyond throwing things in the direction of a suitcase.

Oh, I DVR'd the Extreme Project show and got to watch it last night. It was interesting to see all that they did in 14 days of dry dock. It looks like the Magic will be in tip top shape for us. New carpet, pools redone, new paint, re-do on the kids Oceaneer clubs. New upholstery on the dining chairs, re-do of the theater (don't forget it now offers 3-D movies!). Whole outside painted and lots of mechanical maintenance.

I played the horn thing several times on YouTube and can't wait until we're there hearing it ourselves. We have had such a cold spell here in Mpls. and today is -5 with windchill of -15. Can't wait for 70+ days. Have a great day everyone!

Connie

 

[dceks cruisers]

SO excited about the next few days. Our house is buzzing with fun! It's almost like everyone is living harmoniously! ALMOST!

I have super high hopes for this weekend, each day has a carefully made list that must be followed to the "T", or else we'll be missing something major.
Oh yea, I think I mentioned before that my kids are actors/models...well yesterday, DS10 gets a call to be in a "Major Motion Picture" (was how it was presented to me). When do they film?.... Saturday! January 31st! So for the sake of his career, I continue to make the arrangements, panicking the whole way, knowing I NEED SATURDAY to pack!

Turns out, they asked me to measure him exactly (so I call the school nurse and ask him to be pulled out of class so she can measure him! Not surprising they think I'm a wackjob!) and he is 2 inches too tall for the part! What a relief!

I mean, the film would've been great, it has Vince Vaughan and Jason Bateman, etc...but I don't see how I could've done all that, it would've been a whole day shoot and of course, he needs a parent on set!

Back to reality once again. As Christian (DS12) just walked by to get into the shower he replied (in response to my being on the computer....again)..."Mom, what are you gonna do when the cruise is over, you'll have nobody to talk to". Hush your mouth, child!!

Have a great day everyone, I'm going dark today in hopes of getting work done!

My kids are interested in model/acting too. My DS13 would love to talk to your kids about their experiences. We looked into a program and then changed our mind on it. We should discuss if you've done the classes thing and how your experience has been from a parents' perspective. DD8 can't wait for the onboard show the kids get to be in and last night was practicing making up her own hiphop type moves.

OK, really gotta go!

Connie

 

[princessmeesh]

Connie, you can talk to my DH as well, he is a Juilliard alum for acting and teaches it as well, also in the process of writing a book about it for kids!

talented group i tell you! we need to stage some sort of production at the end of the cruise! LOL

 

[aprestwich]

Hi Everyone,

We're very excited to go on the cruise next week! Myself, wife Lesley, Ryan (7) and Matthew (2.5) along with extended family, so it should be a good time. We're at Disney World for 5 days first before heading to the ship and then the four of us are having a few days alone back at Disney after the others go home.

I have a couple of questions for fellow divers who have booked the Certified Scuba diving in Grand Cayman recently. I'm booked to dive with the ship's tour, normally I dive with my wife and we book our own trip, but this time she's going with the kids and other family members to the turtle farm. So no buddy.

A little about me, I'm an instructor and technical diver, so deeper the better for me and the walls would be fantastic.

1.) Anyone who has been the GC recently with Disney, what sites did you dive and which operation is Disney using?

2.) Anyone else booked on this tour for that cruise?

3.) If anyone else on our sailing is planning to dive, do you want to get together and book our own dives? DiveTech has some excellent shore dives for $10 per tank plus taxi fare.

That's about it for now. See you onboard!

Andrew