Jammin' to Jamaica - Aug 30 2014 ~ Fantasy ~ 7-Night Western

[LiseG]

Goofy FE

The last FE group will close Saturday night.... tonight.

We have a few new FE members including StoneFamily2014.

Mye is confirmed

We volunteered at Movies at Monteith tonight ... movies played on a giant inflatable screen under the stars. Tonight was Frozen complete withj real live princeses, Frozen trivia, a character parade and a sing-a-long before the show. Very fun but with dusk at 9:15 here in Oregon it was a late night for the 2000+ parents and kiddos sitting on the lawn (and the team that made it happen). Then, I delivered DD13 Sabrina's friends back to their homes across town. It's now 2 am... so I'm going to wait until morning and some coffee before make the FE updates

Lise

 

[LiseG]

Lisa can you give us the Goofy FE group as of now so that we can have an idea of what we're looking at to get started on our gifts.

Lise has been doing a great job keeping the very first post on page one up to date, so if you go there, you'll see everyone in our fe group. Once the group is closed, i I think she will email everyone the final list.

Here's the scoop... We have a couple additions. I'll be updating the first post and spread sheet in the morning. The Goofy FE closes Saturday. I'll email out the draft Goofy FE list for proof reading on Sunday. I expect there will be a few little adjusments, and then I resend the list on Monday.

Lise

 

[SueTravelsWithKids]

We don't want to participate in the fish extender but did want to give a shout out that we will be traveling with you all. It is the Schutz family - Tim, Sue, Caleb (9), Corban (7) and Cohen (5).

Does anyone know if they do anythign special because it's labor day?

 

[SueTravelsWithKids]

Also, for the mommy with a 2 year old asking about port excursions. I have been on the fantasy on this itenerary 2 other times traveling with small children. Jamaica is new this year (replaced Costa Maya) so I can't add to that discussion. If it were me I'd consider this:

Cozumel- Get off the ship at the port. You will cross the street on an overhead bridge. I'd get a taxi and go to Chakanaab park. I highly recommend for those with little ones OR older kids. It is a gorgeous place. There is a pristine beach. You can sign up for dolphin experiences there. There is also a really nice walking trail area and you can see some animals. We LOVED It. There is a gift shop and small restaurant and a few bars and places to grab a quick bite. The trip before we took a taxi as well and just toured the island and stopped at some of the beaches. This was beautiful but I didn't feel as safe in a few of the places. You do pay an entrance fee at Chakanaab but if you do this on your own vs. through the cruise line it will save you big bucks. We left early and saw all the Disney Cruise guests coming in a large group about 1 1/2 hours after us. For us this was nice because our dolphin experience was really small. Also, my older boys have already swam with the dolphins so I sat with them while my hubby did it with my littlest. Little kids are free with a paying adult for the dolphin at the gate. There is a really nice swimming pool right by the dolphin experience that I enjoyed with my other boys. I'd also recommend that you are clear that you want pictures of your child if you do the dolphin. We planned to buy some and for some reason the photographer was a ditz our day and took none of my three year old because he was being shy. There is no way to take pics of others doing the experience. I could watch them but it was from a distance.

Grand Cayman is a place that I feel very safe traveling in. I will say it seemed like traffic could be slow so if you go on your own thats a consideration. The most famous thing to do here is visit the stingrays. But I have found my boys are too nervous when we get close to rays so I haven't done it. I would probably say with a two year old I'd skip that. We did a dolphin experience here once that we booked on our own. We loved it and had a really great time. It is called Dophin Cove. If you book from them they will pick you up at the port and take you to the place. You can read lots of reviews on tripadvisor. I believe children were free with paying adult. We saved hundreds booking this way. This year we plan to do the cayman turtle farm which should be really good with a little one. We will probably book through the ship because I get nervous about getting back on time.

 

[staffieri]

Looks like everyone is making some wonderful plans. Are any of you planning NOT to get off the ship at any of the ports? If so which port are you skipping and why?

I might be Grand Cayman for us. We tender there so a little more difficult to get off the ship and the port tours seem to be more expensive.

WHAT ABOUT YOU?

 

[CarolinaBlue]

Grand Cayman is the one that I would not skip. It is beautiful and the one port that I felt the safest in. We may skip Cozumel this time because I just don't see an excursion that we're interested in this time around.

 

[Reedsabcs]

Thanks for the info OldPyrate. Lisa is definitely awesome. I don't know how she does it all but as a first time cruiser she's been a huge help. I just joined the forum not too long ago so I didn't realize that the FE groups were at the beginning. We were already 100 or so pages deep when I got in. I'm thinking I'll have to take some time and read from the beginning and see what other helpful info I can pull out

 

[TinkerMama88]

Hi Everyone!!

I swear time has just seemed to stop for me!!! I am so excited I can hardly contain myself!! I think if my child actually knew what we were doing...I would still be more excited.

I need some ideas on what good Port Excursions are good for little ones. My daughter is going to be two years old. We know that limit's us to some things but I've read several people brought their children to certain things and I just wanted to hear others experiences with certain excursions. There will be three of us and we can always trade off watching the baby (who isn't going to be a baby here soon :-( ) but I was wondering if anyone knew of some things that would be good for all of us to do together. I would hate to just leave her on the ship in the nursery while we're out doing fun stuff. I would rather include Ella or not do it at all. So mommy's and daddy's what did you do with your kiddo's?

Laci Stone

Our youngest will be 21 months when we sail. We are going to hang out at Chakanaab all day at Cozumel. DH and DD will being doing a dolphin swim or what not and DS and myself will hang out on the beach for the day.

In Grand Cayman we are doing a private tour to StingRay city as DCL age restrictions won't let DS go, but Sting Ray City allows infants as young as 9 weeks…He likes animals and has experience with up close interaction so we are comfortable with him doing it. The kids are staying on the ship in Falmouth sa DH and I are going zip lining but we may get them off the ship in the afternoon to see the port area.

I highly recommend reading posts on TripAdvisor to get an idea about the ports we'll be in, and even reviews about excursions!

Cheers!
Eric

Yes! This!

 

[LiseG]

SueTravelsWithKids

The Schutz Family - DH Tim, DW Sue, DS9 Caleb, DS7 Corban and DS5 Cohen

Do you have any special celebrations this cruise?

I hope you'll plan tocome to the Meet & Greeton Aug 30. It will be before the lifeboat drill. Final details TBA in the next couple weeks, so check in form time to time.

 

[Gigi817]

Hi there!

My family just booked this cruise and we're so excited! We've done the FE before and LOVED it! We don't have cabin numbers yet but our family info is:

Brian (DH) age 39
Margie (Me) age 41
Trevor (DS) age 6
Karlie (DD) age 4

Debbie (DM) age 64

I'm looking forward to meeting all of you and hope to meet you onboard!

Have a magical day!

 

[NYStuckey]

Hi there!

My family just booked this cruise and we're so excited! We've done the FE before and LOVED it! We don't have cabin numbers yet but our family info is:

Brian (DH) age 39
Margie (Me) age 41
Trevor (DS) age 6
Karlie (DD) age 4

Debbie (DM) age 64

I'm looking forward to meeting all of you and hope to meet you onboard!

Have a magical day!

Welcome aboard!!!!

 

[nikkinraul]

Hi Everyone!! I swear time has just seemed to stop for me!!! I am so excited I can hardly contain myself!! I think if my child actually knew what we were doing...I would still be more excited. I need some ideas on what good Port Excursions are good for little ones. My daughter is going to be two years old. We know that limit's us to some things but I've read several people brought their children to certain things and I just wanted to hear others experiences with certain excursions. There will be three of us and we can always trade off watching the baby (who isn't going to be a baby here soon :-( ) but I was wondering if anyone knew of some things that would be good for all of us to do together. I would hate to just leave her on the ship in the nursery while we're out doing fun stuff. I would rather include Ella or not do it at all. So mommy's and daddy's what did you do with your kiddo's? Also, experienced cruisers - Please don't laugh when you read this, I am a first time cruiser and have no idea what to expect. When we port how far away from towns will we be? Within walking distance? Say if we just wanted to spend the time in the nearest town shopping and looking around would we be able to do that on foot? That would be something we could all do together but I don't know how far away the places to go are. Thanks for not laughing at me! ;-) I would totally appreciate all the help and advice I can get from all you experienced cruisers. It really makes me that much more excited to see that there are so many return cruisers. I think we made a great choice going with a Disney Cruise!!! Laci Stone

Hi there! I have a 2 year old too. We are doing the ruins and beach at Cozumel, grand cayman just checking the port and enjoying the cruise, we were planning to do the beach break at grand cayman, but I didn't get good reviews about it. For Jamaica we are doing the chukka beach day. Something were the kids can play and relax, (5&2 yrs old).
I guarantee you, you are going to love the cruise! Is the best vacation ever!

 

[OldPyrate]

Thanks for the info OldPyrate. Lisa is definitely awesome. I don't know how she does it all but as a first time cruiser she's been a huge help. I just joined the forum not too long ago so I didn't realize that the FE groups were at the beginning. We were already 100 or so pages deep when I got in. I'm thinking I'll have to take some time and read from the beginning and see what other helpful info I can pull out

You're welcome!! This is only our second Disney cruise, but didn't know anything about the FE groups until I stumbled upon DISboards last month! So we decided it looked like fun and joined! If you are looking for cruise tips, check out this thread...you just may have enough time to read through it before our cruise!!

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1380936

 

[OldPyrate]

Looks like everyone is making some wonderful plans. Are any of you planning NOT to get off the ship at any of the ports? If so which port are you skipping and why?

I might be Grand Cayman for us. We tender there so a little more difficult to get off the ship and the port tours seem to be more expensive.

WHAT ABOUT YOU?

We're only getting off the ship in Grand Cayman, nothing in Cozumel or Jamaica really appealed to us, plus we want time to explore the ship!!! The excursion we booked in Grand Cayman is the catamaran sailing trip to Rum Point Beach, we're just gonna hang out there and enjoy the beach and frosty rum drinks! We both like sailing , and it wasn't very expensive, so it was a no brainer for us.

 

[KBinCO]

Looks like everyone is making some wonderful plans. Are any of you planning NOT to get off the ship at any of the ports? If so which port are you skipping and why?

I might be Grand Cayman for us. We tender there so a little more difficult to get off the ship and the port tours seem to be more expensive.

WHAT ABOUT YOU?

We may stay on the ship in Jamaica. There weren't really any excursions that appealed to us that were age appropriate for our girls, who will be 4 and 5, and since it's our first cruise, I think we will want to have some extra time to take advantage of what's on board.

We're doing the dolphin experience and turtle farm in grand cayman, and playa Mia in Cozumel.

 

[OldPyrate]

Hi there!

My family just booked this cruise and we're so excited! We've done the FE before and LOVED it! We don't have cabin numbers yet but our family info is:

Brian (DH) age 39
Margie (Me) age 41
Trevor (DS) age 6
Karlie (DD) age 4

Debbie (DM) age 64

I'm looking forward to meeting all of you and hope to meet you onboard!

Have a magical day!

Welcome to the group!!

 

[StoneFamily2014]

Well, I haven't been to any of the ports we're going to, but I have done quite a bit of traveling.....

I don't think the port area in Cozumel is very big just by looking at Google Earth. We already knew we weren't getting off in Cozumel so I didn't research it.

On Grand Cayman, the port tenders drop you off right in Georgetown. I think you should be OK walking around there.

Falmouth Jamaica: The big draw in Falmouth as you may have noticed is the plantation and all the activities there, then the usual beach stuff over near Montego Bay. From what I've read on TripAdvisor, I would NOT go walking around Falmouth on your own due to the harassment cruisers get from the locals. For this reason, the port of Falmouth set up a "sterile" shopping area within the port area, so you can shop for local items without having to go "out the gate". If you want to get off the ship in Falmouth, I recommend you book an excursion.

I highly recommend reading posts on TripAdvisor to get an idea about the ports we'll be in, and even reviews about excursions!

Cheers!
Eric

Thank you so much for all your info. This helps me out quite a bit. I think I'll just have to make a judgement call on whether or not we should bring the DD along to some of the ports or not. I think we're going to go ahead and just do our own thing on Grand Cayman since we'll be so close to Georgetown.

Also thank you for the heads up about Falmouth. It's things like this that I would like to know! It's pretty sad that cruisers had to deal with the harassment but we will be staying away from any non-excursion activities. I really appreciate you telling me about this so I can keep my family from any "buzz kills"

Thanks again for all your help.

We look forward to meeting you!

Laci Stone

 

[LiseG]

Gigi817

DW Margie (41) DH Brian (39), DS6 Trevor, DD4 Karlie and DM Debbie (64)

It's going to be a great cruise. It sounds like you want to join the Goofy FE ... that's awesome. Today is the last day to sign up.

Can you please post or PM the following:

• Family Name
• Hometown / State, it's fun to know
• Cabin Number, when available
• Email, so I can email you the draft and final FE lists

Stay tuned to the DIS for details on the Meet & Greet the first afternoon of the cruise. Can't wait to meet you

Lise

 

[StoneFamily2014]

Ella is going to be in the nursery most nights as well. I like knowing that Ffion will be there too so Ella will have someone to play with. I worry about her being all alone in that big ol' nursery with no playmates.

How do your pronounce Ffion's name? If I'm saying it right it's absolutely beautiful but I wanted to make sure I was pronouncing it correctly. I'm pronouncing it Ff-Ion. Am I right?

We are so excited to meet everyone. I really like how this forum is helping us get in touch with others that will be on our cruise. It just perks my excitement that much more!!!

Laci Stone

 

[StoneFamily2014]

Also, for the mommy with a 2 year old asking about port excursions. I have been on the fantasy on this itenerary 2 other times traveling with small children. Jamaica is new this year (replaced Costa Maya) so I can't add to that discussion. If it were me I'd consider this:

Cozumel- Get off the ship at the port. You will cross the street on an overhead bridge. I'd get a taxi and go to Chakanaab park. I highly recommend for those with little ones OR older kids. It is a gorgeous place. There is a pristine beach. You can sign up for dolphin experiences there. There is also a really nice walking trail area and you can see some animals. We LOVED It. There is a gift shop and small restaurant and a few bars and places to grab a quick bite. The trip before we took a taxi as well and just toured the island and stopped at some of the beaches. This was beautiful but I didn't feel as safe in a few of the places. You do pay an entrance fee at Chakanaab but if you do this on your own vs. through the cruise line it will save you big bucks. We left early and saw all the Disney Cruise guests coming in a large group about 1 1/2 hours after us. For us this was nice because our dolphin experience was really small. Also, my older boys have already swam with the dolphins so I sat with them while my hubby did it with my littlest. Little kids are free with a paying adult for the dolphin at the gate. There is a really nice swimming pool right by the dolphin experience that I enjoyed with my other boys. I'd also recommend that you are clear that you want pictures of your child if you do the dolphin. We planned to buy some and for some reason the photographer was a ditz our day and took none of my three year old because he was being shy. There is no way to take pics of others doing the experience. I could watch them but it was from a distance.

Grand Cayman is a place that I feel very safe traveling in. I will say it seemed like traffic could be slow so if you go on your own thats a consideration. The most famous thing to do here is visit the stingrays. But I have found my boys are too nervous when we get close to rays so I haven't done it. I would probably say with a two year old I'd skip that. We did a dolphin experience here once that we booked on our own. We loved it and had a really great time. It is called Dophin Cove. If you book from them they will pick you up at the port and take you to the place. You can read lots of reviews on tripadvisor. I believe children were free with paying adult. We saved hundreds booking this way. This year we plan to do the cayman turtle farm which should be really good with a little one. We will probably book through the ship because I get nervous about getting back on time.

Thank you so much for all your information. It really helps me make some choices on what to do. Also thank you for telling me where you felt safe and where you didn't. As a mother that is my main concern, although I don't think Disney would every let it's cruisers be in serious danger anywhere. But I want our trip to be as safe and enjoyable as possible.

I think the Ray's would be something Ella would really enjoy. I can picture Daddy biting his nails off but I think she would love it. My child lacks any type of fear, she's an absolute daredevil, and loves every type of animal so I think this might be one of our best options.

Thanks again for all your help!!

Laci Stone