How do I start a meet thread for August 24, 2013?

[mommy2tati]

We just booked 3 staterooms while onboard the Magic this past week!

We did the FE and a Magnet Exchange on this past cruise from NYC to Canada & it was great. Each stateroom gave a small gift to each stateroom plus a magnet to those signed up. The kids got a few extras as well from some cruisers.

I don't mind helping to organize the FE & Magnet exchange for this cruise as it gets closer...

Welcome!

Welcome J&K! That would be great if you want to organize the FE. We've got lots of time.

Has anybody ever been to the islands on our itinerary before?

I'm going to these same islands in March but on NCL. I'm anxious to see Maho Beach and the planes on St Maarten but not sure I'll do that in March since we'll be traveling with my 74 y.o. mom.

 

[J&K'sPrincessMommy]

No problem- we have time to start organizing the FE &/or magent exchnage.

We have been to St Thomas before and we took a taxi to Megan's Bay Beach for the day- so much cheaper than doing a ship excursion and you set your own time for that as well. Saint Maarten is new for us. We may stay on the ship that day (or just get off for a bit to check out the nearby shops)because there is so much to do and a week might not be enough time to really enjoy it because we will also get off at Castaway Cay too.

 

[kerrykerr]

Welcome!



I'm going to these same islands in March but on NCL. I'm anxious to see Maho Beach and the planes on St Maarten but not sure I'll do that in March since we'll be traveling with my 74 y.o. mom.

My husband and father want to see the planes on St Maarten too. We may just stay on the ship with the kids. I wonder if there is any shopping at this stop?

 

[tbelfonti]

We'll be with J&KPrincessMommy. It's our first full sailing.

 

[momteacher]

Hello everyone! I just switched our cruise reservations from July 2013 to this sailing. We just did the Western Caribbean on the Fantasy July 7 - 14. IT WAS SO AMAZING that we wanted to make sure we would come back - so we booked our next cruise on board!! We did not tell our kids yet - DD will be 11 and DS will be 8 next summer. I think Santa may surprise them with Tickets for the Cruise for Christmas. We picked our stateroom when we booked, so we took pictures of the door while we were still on board because I thought that would make a great way to present them with the trip! I am very excited! It will give me something to look forward to all school year! I unofficially participated in the FE exchange being that I got involved on the discussion boards late. It was tons of fun! I think a magnet exchange would be great! Our last sailing also created a secret Facebook group. I am more comfortable with Facebook, so that was a great thing for me. In fact, we all met on board the first day and many of us are still very active on our FB page keeping up with each other. I am not sure if any of you are interested in a FB page? Let me know and I can look into creating one. I look forward to chatting with you in the year to come!

 

[kerrykerr]

Hi Momteacher!

So, you've been on the Fantasy already. That's awesome! I've been wishing all summer that we were cruising this year instead of next.

You mentioned a magnet exchange? Everybody exchanges magnets on the doors instead of the FE gifts? I've never done an FE exchange before, but magnets sound a lot easier.

 

[momteacher]

Kerry-

Yes. We were on the Fantasy. It is a BEAUTIFUL ship! I can't say anything bad about it!

I am not EXACTLY sure how the magnet exchange works since I never did one, but what I gathered on the boards is that the FE gift is some sort of magnet. If anyone knows more that me, PLEASE correct me if I am wrong. I did get a few magnets as FE gifts last month and I really enjoyed them! I think the magnets would be much easier to pack to bring on and off the ship. I just did another search about a magnet exchange and didn't find that much more info. I will do some more research since we have time and let you know what I discover.

 

[momteacher]

Would anyone like to join a Facebook page? I can create a secret group. I just need at least one FB member to give me their Facebook name so that I can create the group. Thanks.

 

[J&K'sPrincessMommy]

facebook would be easier for me...

 

[mommy2tati]

Would anyone like to join a Facebook page? I can create a secret group. I just need at least one FB member to give me their Facebook name so that I can create the group. Thanks.

I'm ileana cinn morales on FB

 

[momteacher]

I'm ileana cinn morales on FB

I requested to be your friend. You will see a request from me - Cathy Padden Lazas. I am trying to establish the secret group on FB. It is asking that invite friends. I believe you can only be invited into the group if you are friends with one of the members of the group. SO if anyone else on our sailing would like to join the "Eastern Caribbean Disney Fantasy August 24 - 31, 2013" group, request to be my friend.

 

[celocey]

Welcome J&K! That would be great if you want to organize the FE. We've got lots of time.

Has anybody ever been to the islands on our itinerary before?

Kerrykerr, my husband and I took this itinerary 3 years ago on the Magic. Loved it! St. Maarten was great since you could just walk off the ship and into town. There are beaches right there as well.
St. Thomas you could walk into Charlotte Amalie, but it's a little far. I would suggest a taxi or tram if they have those.
Castaway Cay was by far our favorite port. We spent most of our time on the Adults only beach but we did the Stingray adventure which I would highly recommend. I was hoping Disney would continue the 5 night cruise with two stops to Castaway Cay but alas they did not.

 

[celocey]

Kerry-

Yes. We were on the Fantasy. It is a BEAUTIFUL ship! I can't say anything bad about it!

I am not EXACTLY sure how the magnet exchange works since I never did one, but what I gathered on the boards is that the FE gift is some sort of magnet. If anyone knows more that me, PLEASE correct me if I am wrong. I did get a few magnets as FE gifts last month and I really enjoyed them! I think the magnets would be much easier to pack to bring on and off the ship. I just did another search about a magnet exchange and didn't find that much more info. I will do some more research since we have time and let you know what I discover.

I would be up for a magnet/FE exchange. The FE gifts can get out of control and take up a lot of space so the magnet idea is appealing. Can I suggest giving a magnet that represents the area/state you live? I am in Ohio, so my immediate thought is a Buckeye themed magnet. Another idea is we could pick a theme, such as a Pirate theme, and give magnets relating to that??? Just a suggestion!

Carol

 

[mcd2745]

Hello. We just booked this cruise about 10 days ago while aboard the Dream for a 5-night cruise (CC double-dip). It is myself, DW (we'll both be 41 at the time of cruise), DS (11 at time of cruise), and DD (8 at time of cruise). I'll be looking forward to seeing the differences between the Dream & Fantasy.

 

[mommy2tati]

Hello. We just booked this cruise about 10 days ago while aboard the Dream for a 5-night cruise (CC double-dip). It is myself, DW (we'll both be 41 at the time of cruise), DS (11 at time of cruise), and DD (8 at time of cruise). I'll be looking forward to seeing the differences between the Dream & Fantasy.

Welcome!

I just got off the Magic on Sunday & can't wait until our Fantasy trip next year!

 

[mcd2745]

Welcome!

I just got off the Magic on Sunday & can't wait until our Fantasy trip next year!

Thanks.


We seriously considered the Magic cruise out of NYC that you were just on since we live here in NYC. However, in the end, we decided we wanted to be on one of the new ships and the two visits to CC really appealed to us. Combine those reasons with the fact that even with airfare and spending a few nights in Orlando after the cruise at the Renaissance (and visiting Seaworld and Aquatica) it was still cheaper than the NYC/Magic cruise...it was an easy choice.

 

[mommy2tati]

Thanks.

We seriously considered the Magic cruise out of NYC that you were just on since we live here in NYC. However, in the end, we decided we wanted to be on one of the new ships and the two visits to CC really appealed to us. Combine those reasons with the fact that even with airfare and spending a few nights in Orlando after the cruise at the Renaissance (and visiting Seaworld and Aquatica) it was still cheaper than the NYC/Magic cruise...it was an easy choice.

We've actually done the Dream twice and the Wonder once before we sailed the Magic. I had considered going on the Fantasy this year but it was actually cheaper for us to do the NYC cruise. I couldn't pass up the convenience. We had a great time.

 

[kerrykerr]

I requested to be your friend. You will see a request from me - Cathy Padden Lazas. I am trying to establish the secret group on FB. It is asking that invite friends. I believe you can only be invited into the group if you are friends with one of the members of the group. SO if anyone else on our sailing would like to join the "Eastern Caribbean Disney Fantasy August 24 - 31, 2013" group, request to be my friend.

I just sent a friend request to you. I hope this works! Let me know if you got it.

 

[momteacher]

If you would like to join the Facebook page for our cruise, let me know!

 

[healeylvr]

Hello fellow cruisers we are a family group of 9 in 3 cabins on this cruise.We booked onboard while on the july 7-14 eastern cruise this year and this will be our 10th DCL cruise.Members are myself Chris DW Carol DD Melissa and her DH Nic DS Lukas and our DD Carol her DS Mike DS Matthew DD Mikayla. I see several members of our last cruise are here and look fotward to seeing them as well as all that are in this group.We would be interested in joining the facebook group and the F/E activity.We did F/E on last trip and it was a lot of fun we enjoyed the gifts as well as setting up and distributing them.We have stayed in St.Thomas several times and love the island there are many day excursions to enjoy. I will try to supply some links and recommendations in future posts for those interested.As for St.Marten we were there only one time on a cruise and went on a pirate ship excursion thru DCL it was ok but I wouldn't do it again.I would like to go to the beach at the end of the airport that looks to be a unique experience.