From WDW to DL With Love - January 06, 2011 part 2

[danfromca]

DCL does do a galley tour - it's interesting. Sign up at Guest Services, it'll be on a sea day. Only food they gave us was a chocolate chip cookie (but it was warm)

The DCL galley tour is nice, but Carnival's excursion was much better. First, it was a small group (about 20), in addition to the tour, we had a Q&A session with the head chef, and met a bunch of the cooks (who let us taste various treats they had prepared for the tour).

But yes - I definitely recommend the DCL galley tour as well.

 

[CruznLexi]

We did the Behind the Fun tour on the Dream in Jan was nearly 4 hours long. Well worth it. We are on the Dream again in Oct. I work as a nurse and going to WDW and cruising is my stress relief. I could ride Thunder Mt all day long! We like to sit in the pool or hot tub and just relax. On the Disney ships we sit in the family hot tubs and watch the movies. Carnival has nice ships and food was rated highest of all cruiselines a year or so ago. Chocolate melting cake!

 

[orlandothebeagle]

Just replying to a few comments. Regarding the banner I made. It's actually a funny story (for me any way). I was totally new to the DIS boards and everyone was talking about creating a banner for the cruise. Well, I like to sew so I went about drawing, cutting & pasting and put together a mock up of the fabric one. Then I forwarded the drawing to the person in charge of the DIS meet. Well, turns out they were speaking of a banner to run across the bottom of their posts. A banner to me meant fabric and I was almost through making the one I had designed. Oh well, they loved it and they get to use it.

Regarding Common Carnival. We took the family on a Carnival cruise in Oct 1989. I love massages, so of course I booked one. It was very rough seas that trip. The hallways were lined with barf bags and the common areas were almost empty as everyone was in their rooms (which, I now learn is the last place you should be when you are seasick) Any way I'm off to my massage, my 1st at sea. It was a very small room, not much bigger than a closet, so sink or anything. Well, my massage therapist was new to cruising, and unfortunately she was one of the sea sick ones. So I would get maybe 2-3 rubs and she would run over to the corner and yak. This went on for the whole massage. Many of you are probably asking why I went thru with the massage. Well, I felt sorry for her and thought I would get her in trouble. But afterwards I had a change of heart and tried to get a refund. Well you know how the spa people are. We went round and round but I finally got half refund. I have such a good massage therapist now who comes to my house and sets up in the back yard so I can listen to my waterfall. I dont book cruise massages anymore.

My experience with NCL is such that I cant remember anything that stood out. So I am greatly anticipating my 1st DCL.

That was pretty funny actually.

Greetings everyone, and Happy Saturday!
I have to agree with everyone about the banner Tami, it is quite amazing. You are so talented! I wish I had as much talent as some of you have in your pinkie finger! Oh well, guess I'll have to rely on my good looks and great personality

While it is a beautiful day in So. Cal, I don't think I have ever seen what your beautiful days must be like in Scotland Lynn! Oh how I want to go there! It is one of my Top three, along with Ireland and Greece.

Earlier this week I was perusing the Panama Canal website (which, by the way Jeff, is wonderful) and I ran across the thread that was created for educational resources. Since in my experience far few parents know about this option, I thought I would share it on the main page. From what I can tell, many of you homeschool your kids, but for those of you who do not, you may want to look into setting up an Independent Study Contract through your child's school. The nice thing about an IS is that it is a win/win for both the school and you and all you have to do to qualify is be absent for 5 or more consecutive days. Teachers have to provide your child with his/her work ahead of time and if it is completed upon return, the teacher/s have to give the child full credit for all assignments missed during the time s/he was gone--Even if the kids ended up doing more in class. Schools like it because it qualifies for ADA. I can only speak intelligently to California's IS, but all states should have a similar program.

Additionally, some of you were mentioning a journal or notebook that the kids could do about the places and things they are doing and seeing. I think that is a GREAT idea and would love to help out in anyway possible. But, before you start, you may want to check with DCL to see if they are going to do anything like that. On our Medi trip in '07, all of the kids were provided with a special Mediterranean book and age-level specific inserts for each location we visited. Each insert gave some information about the location as well as some activities for the kids to do. As the kids completed their activity for the day, they would receive stamps specific to each location, culminating with a medallion that was affixed to the front of the book when they had finished everything. All of the adults in our group loved it so much we wanted one for ourselves, but alas, it was only for the kiddos

Anyway, a few things to think about...I realize many of you have cruised far more than I so this is probably not new info, but just in case...
Oh, and I am happy to add my name to the list of people willing to volunteer their services to tutor kids.

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend, and Lynn, blow a kiss to beautiful Scotland for me!

~Melissa

I cant believe how hot is was yest, we wre so quiet which was good, your sunkiss has not worked so far,still grey here.

Good Afternoon,

Well I am counting down and my WBTA is a year and 17 weeks; I will be thinking of you.

I cant believe how quick these cruises actually come around, the dis is a great way to help the time go in and get excited.

 

[LindaBabe]

Good Morning! We are on the road helping put DH's mom into assisted living. She doesn't know us. Not very fun stuff to report from here, now.

Yesterday, however, we stopped in Columbus at the art museum to see the Chihuly exhibit. (He's the artist who did the atrium chandeliers on the Magic and Wonder) All I can say is if you live within a couple hundred miles of Columbus, you should get there before July 4th, when it closes! There's another exhibit by him at the Columbus botanical garden, which we saw last year.

Happy Day, all!

 

[Bookwood]

So Linda- are you going to be in this neck of the woods on the way home?

 

[Happy Goofy]

On the Med cruise there was one day or I should say a half of day when the ship hit some rough seas. We were having lunch in Parrot cay and all of a sudden we felt the ship sway and glasses and dishes etc. came sliding off the tables and counters. It was kind of scary. We went up to our room on Deck 7 and it was awful up there. I thought I would be sick any minute. We went down to Deck 3 and sat in the Promade Lounge not facing the window. People were sick all around us . The captain changed the course of the ship so we would be closer to land. He said it would take about and hour and a half. That was the longest hour and a half for me. But sure enough things started to calm down and they announced that the worse was over and people should go out and get some fresh air. We were on that ship for 25 days and I guess one half of day of bad weather was ok.

 

[RanCan]

On the Med cruise there was one day or I should say a half of day when the ship hit some rough seas. We were having lunch in Parrot cay and all of a sudden we felt the ship sway and glasses and dishes etc. came sliding off the tables and counters. It was kind of scary. We went up to our room on Deck 7 and it was awful up there. I thought I would be sick any minute. We went down to Deck 3 and sat in the Promade Lounge not facing the window. People were sick all around us . The captain changed the course of the ship so we would be closer to land. He said it would take about and hour and a half. That was the longest hour and a half for me. But sure enough things started to calm down and they announced that the worse was over and people should go out and get some fresh air. We were on that ship for 25 days and I guess one half of day of bad weather was ok.

We've been on a few cruises and fortunately I haven't been sick. But Candy (DW) has to really take precautions (pills, patch etc). When she starts to feel "it" coming on she heads outside and takes in as much fresh air as possible. That seems to work.

The seas you describe above seem to be worse than what we have ever felt before! Here's hoping for calm seas for our cruise!

 

[MommaluvsDis]

Hi everyone!

Had a very scary event occur in our family this weekend but I can say, thank God, it all turned out well.

My 52 year old brother had to be admitted to the Emergency Room with chest pains. Steve and I stayed with him and we got him transported from our "first aid station" hospital to a leading heart care hospital an hour away.

He ended up having a heart cath ran which proved to be fine so we don't know, yet, what the problem was. But this all came 2 days after I took our dad to the same hospital to have his heart shocked back into rhythm!

I'm tired!! LOL!

I hope everyone had a relaxing, fun weekend. My new daughter-in-law flew home from Quatar (sp?) safely on Friday and we're so glad to have her home.

 

[MommaluvsDis]

Good Morning! We are on the road helping put DH's mom into assisted living. She doesn't know us. Not very fun stuff to report from here, now.

Linda,

I'm so sorry for you and your husband. This is such a hard thing to do... It's no fun being the parent of your parents.

 

[ACDSNY]

Hi everyone!

Had a very scary event occur in our family this weekend but I can say, thank God, it all turned out well.

My 52 year old brother had to be admitted to the Emergency Room with chest pains.

He ended up having a heart cath ran which proved to be fine so we don't know, yet, what the problem was. But this all came 2 days after I took our dad to the same hospital to have his heart shocked back into rhythm!

Denise, so sorry to hear you're having a rough weekend, I hope the rest of the week is better.

 

[MommaluvsDis]

Thank you, so do I!

 

[RanCan]

Hi everyone!

Had a very scary event occur in our family this weekend but I can say, thank God, it all turned out well.

My 52 year old brother had to be admitted to the Emergency Room with chest pains. Steve and I stayed with him and we got him transported from our "first aid station" hospital to a leading heart care hospital an hour away.

He ended up having a heart cath ran which proved to be fine so we don't know, yet, what the problem was. But this all came 2 days after I took our dad to the same hospital to have his heart shocked back into rhythm!

I'm tired!! LOL!

I hope everyone had a relaxing, fun weekend. My new daughter-in-law flew home from Quatar (sp?) safely on Friday and we're so glad to have her home.

Oh my! I sure hope everything and everyone gets better.

 

[aan1701]

It's no fun being the parent of your parents.

Tell me about it. I am slowing becoming the patent and my parents are becoming the children. I am not going to get into it here. I hope all is now well with everyone.

 

[glindamood]

Linda. Not an easy task, I remember helping my folks go into assisted living but it was easier as they both knew what was going on - and still do for the most part.

Denise. Scary, scary but I hope the worst is over and things improve each day.

Well - two work days this week and them I am off to visit a friend for some much needed R&R. Everyone have a good week - I will try and check in.

 

[MommaluvsDis]

Thanks Randy, Alan, and Gail. I'm sure the doctor will do a stress test when my brother goes to see him in 2 weeks.

Have a great trip, Gail!

 

[DCLtravler]

Hi everyone!

Had a very scary event occur in our family this weekend but I can say, thank God, it all turned out well.

My 52 year old brother had to be admitted to the Emergency Room with chest pains. Steve and I stayed with him and we got him transported from our "first aid station" hospital to a leading heart care hospital an hour away.

He ended up having a heart cath ran which proved to be fine so we don't know, yet, what the problem was. But this all came 2 days after I took our dad to the same hospital to have his heart shocked back into rhythm!

I'm tired!! LOL!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I am so sorry to hear about your dad and brother! What a scary and precarious position to be in. I hope they find the solution to your brothers issues and that your dad's heart stays strong...My dad had the same thing just after Christmas, and I know how frightening it is, but I have to say, he is doing much better now that his heart is back in rhythm
I will keep you and your family in my prayers!! Stay strong and I hope you get your much deserved rest!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Originally Posted by LindaBabe View Post
Good Morning! We are on the road helping put DH's mom into assisted living. She doesn't know us. Not very fun stuff to report from here, now.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I hope the weekend went okay and that your mother-in-law is settled into her new home. My prayers are with you and your family as well!

For the both of you, and anyone else who is suffering in some way, I wish you a moment of rest, loved ones to surround you and a very happy day!

God Bless,
Melissa

 

[WDW Princess 71]

Hey everyone! Just got back from another wonderful week at WDW, we drove all day yesterday and got home about 3:00 AM so today is a relaxing day for me before heading back to work tomorrow. Had fun catching up on all of the posts this week, lots of interesting topics!

Good Morning!

I liked Clayton as a person, but there were a few things that fall under his watch that I didn't care for.

1. scheduling. It seemed as though all the events in which an "artsy" person would be interested (ie draw a charactor, origami, scrapbooking) overlapped by 15 minutes or half an hour so that one couldn't get to all of them, and then there would be long stretches of "nothing" at all.
2. long winded "speeches" at the beginnings of shows, events and even announcements. Man, say what you gotta say and then STOP!
3. It seemed like there were fewer activities than on previous cruises. I haven't compared navigators, but there were a few times I would have been bored, had I not brought my own stuff to do (cardmaking, crosswords, books).

Of course that didn't stop me from rebooking. However, I did hope that a different cruise director might make different choices.

I was very intrigued by this discussion. Does the Cruise Director really make all of these decisions about what types of activities are offered, and when? So it would depend on which CD you have on how well or not so well things are lined up? Just curious...I wonder if they have anything to do with the characters available too. On my first 2 cruises there was a huge variety of characters, and on my most recent cruise, there seemed to be so much repetition of the "fab 5" characters and many times the locations/times listed in the navigator were wrong...

Tell me about it!!!! I always tell people who have never been on DCL thatit can be as much Disney or as little Disney as you want it to be. I don't think they believe me.

I always tell people this too, and like you said, I dont think they believe me. As soon as they hear Disney its like a red flag goes up that it must be a kiddy playground. I get this reaction every time I'm about to go on vacation and people ask where am I going, and when I say WDW, they are A) surprised that I'm going AGAIN and B) surprised that as an adult family we like going to WDW so much. People just dont get it. Yes, we love the parks and characters, but we've had lots of trips where we just lounged by the beautiful Yacht Club pool and beach all week and maybe did one park the whole trip. We do signature restaurants every night, and enjoy the Boardwalk nightlife. We know first hand that WDW doesnt have to be a frenzied theme park hopping vacation (although we've done that style trip and love both ways equally as much!) Same with DCL. I guess we can just be happy that the "secret" is what it is, and those people who are too short-sighted to see the real magic you can have on a Disney vacation, they can just miss out and leave more fun for us

 

[disneywondergirl22]

wow, sounds like it's been really busy for some of you recently, some for the good, some not so good. i hope everyone is doing ok though!

i wanted to inquire... from what you all know from the past...

just found out one of my lifelong friends would like to join on this sailing, along with 1 or 2 other girls. a few weeks ago, they had rooms available for less than $4000. now i can't find anything available for less than $6k.

they can't wait too long. my friend is in politics and has an insane schedule, has to get things on the books months in advance, and has to take her trips between elections and polling events and such. so the timing is perfect, but the price i found right now would not be good for my friends at this time.

do we think that things could change, rooms could become available?

if they are looking to be able to comfortably house 2-4 of them in a room (likely 2 or 3, not all 4), but want the typically cheapest room available, what should i have them keep an eye out for, what categories?

 

[aan1701]

wow, sounds like it's been really busy for some of you recently, some for the good, some not so good. i hope everyone is doing ok though!

i wanted to inquire... from what you all know from the past...

just found out one of my lifelong friends would like to join on this sailing, along with 1 or 2 other girls. a few weeks ago, they had rooms available for less than $4000. now i can't find anything available for less than $6k.

they can't wait too long. my friend is in politics and has an insane schedule, has to get things on the books months in advance, and has to take her trips between elections and polling events and such. so the timing is perfect, but the price i found right now would not be good for my friends at this time.

do we think that things could change, rooms could become available?

if they are looking to be able to comfortably house 2-4 of them in a room (likely 2 or 3, not all 4), but want the typically cheapest room available, what should i have them keep an eye out for, what categories?

Well this is what I would do. I would either keep looking as it seems the cheep cabins open up every hour and get snached right back up and if they are lucky enough to grab one, awesome I guess. ( I only say that because they are in politics and I have a message for them. Deloran, Mr. Fusion, 1.21 gigawats, 88 MPH, set for 1776 so they can see how it is supossed to be done. Lol). The other thing I would do is get the deposit on the cheepest cat avilable right now. Then call a few times a day to see if it can be moved to a cheeper cat. If nothing comes by pay in full day, get a refund. I think I would go with option 2.

 

[disneywondergirl22]

I was very intrigued by this discussion. Does the Cruise Director really make all of these decisions about what types of activities are offered, and when?


I wonder if they have anything to do with the characters available too. On my first 2 cruises there was a huge variety of characters, and on my most recent cruise, there seemed to be so much repetition of the "fab 5" characters and many times the locations/times listed in the navigator were wrong...


I always tell people this too, and like you said, I dont think they believe me. As soon as they hear Disney its like a red flag goes up that it must be a kiddy playground.


We know first hand that WDW doesnt have to be a frenzied theme park hopping vacation (although we've done that style trip and love both ways equally as much!)

1. thats a good question. as lindababe suggested, either there weren't enough arts and crafts, or they were all overlapping. i'm trying to help BF get a gig as an arts guy onboard, and they don't seem to want to have anything to do with it. but i wonder if more people voiced their opinion about lack of adult activities if that would help. he wanted to do activities like scrapbooking and making your own autograph book, painting and drawing (both on board and off), teaching how animated films are made (since that's his "real job"), teaching photoshop workshops to make vacation photos better (idea stolen from Princess cruises; etc), in addition to teaching the animation and drawing activities that they already have. but maybe they aren't interested b/c the cruise director dictates what activities are done. but then how do they decide what to do, because they'd need to have a teacher who could lead those activities on hand already. so it's prob not that.

2. doubtful. the characters do a lot during the day. if the ship is docked, the characters may be on land, not on the ship. if there's a party going on somewhere on board, there may not be meet and greets. but i don't really know. people always complained that they could spend a whole 12 hr day at Disneyland and never see Mickey Mouse. which of course draws perplexed faces from cast members because we know you'd have to really be avoiding Mickey to not be able to see him stretched over a 12 hr day because there is not a minute of park operating hours that you can't visit Mickey; this is something I know by fact. AND he's very very very easy to find. So my guess is that maybe you just weren't looking in the "right" places for them? i can't say for sure. i haven't learned how the ship stuff works yet. it's different than the parks.

3. my sister and i went on the Wonder last year for a sailing. i had just hit a late-20s birthday, and she had just graduated (finally) from college (mid-20s). we became known, oddly, as "the sisters", as though we were the ONLY set of adult sisters on the ship. seriously, everyone from the cruise director to the entertainment host (i forget her name, but she was awesome!) to our servers and other crew. i don't remember anything being ruined or even slightly inconvenienced by children being everywhere. we barely saw kids, except at meals and at the pool. we could have used the Cove, but chose to stay at the other pool instead. spent some time in the hot tub there hehe but we barely saw kids. i know they were there tho, because we saw a show, i want to say it was put on by the oceanears club, and saw prob over 100 kids were in it. you make of it what you want to.

plus, it IS a ship for kids. so the kids activities will be MUCH more plentiful than anywhere else. so unless you go during peak season, most kids will be busy doing, well, kid things, on board that you won't see them. i think we saw more kids on our Carnival Cruise than on our Disney Cruise (both during the schoolyear) because there was significantly less activities to keep the kids occupied and out of the way.

4. i love the frenzied visit. have to see everything, dontcha know? my BF hates it though. gets very tired, very fast. eh, he's old hehe