Jan. 18 2009 Wonder - who's cruising?

[TNLaura]

YEAH! We are officially to the 75th day mark. Since this is our first cruise, we had to wait until today to make our ressies and fill out the paperwork. Got both the kids registered for the Kids Club. Makes the cruise feel both closer and further away.

I am still waffling on the shore excursions. Given that we will be in the parks before coming on the cruise, maybe we will just chill and do our own thing -- especially as the kids will probably be just as happy on the beach and water at CC than doing something. Being 4 and 5, they still seem to enjoy the simpler things. But . . . I will keep an ear out if anyone has any great suggestions!

Congrats, VA Mouseman, on your score of the extra days at the park.

 

[iu97alum]

Hi everyone! I THINK we are going to be on this cruise. I know that sounds funny but my daughter is getting a wish from Make A Wish and we were asked last week if these dates were good. So i'm waiting for verification this week but thought I'd hop over here and say "Hi!"

We're first time cruisers (well, three out of the five; DH cruised when he was a teenager and MIL who's coming with us is a seasoned $$$ cruiser) with Disney. I have a passporter for the cruise and have just started looking through it this week to figuer out what activities/shore excursions would fit for our 5 & 3 year olds.

Thanks for having me!
dana

 

[VA_mouseman]

IU97Alum, Hope you're on our cruise! Make-a-Wish does a wonderful job all around.

Yeah! it's the 75 day mark. Friends going with us (not on the DIS boards) are calling today to make Kids Club reservations, and also to register their two yr old twins for Flounders.

I just got off the phone with DCL to revise my ground transfer, to go back to Disney after the cruise. It's starting to feel a bit more real ....

 

[hoff41]

I told my Dreamunlimited (who i booked the cruise with) about my status and verified it like 50 times, but i will also go out of my way to mention it to disney a bunch.

Now that we are less than 75 days out what's everyone's thoughts on the excurtions? Are people planning on just staying on the boat for the pool space?

 

[iu97alum]

I told my Dreamunlimited (who i booked the cruise with) about my status and verified it like 50 times, but i will also go out of my way to mention it to disney a bunch.

Now that we are less than 75 days out what's everyone's thoughts on the excurtions? Are people planning on just staying on the boat for the pool space?

What is your status? Sorry! My first cruise and I'm not familiar.

 

[VA_mouseman]

Now that we are less than 75 days out what's everyone's thoughts on the excurtions? Are people planning on just staying on the boat for the pool space?

We made a dolphin encounter ressie in Nassau and a parasailing ressie at CC, but we may end up doing neither -- now that we're swinging back through WDW after the cruise, we may need to tighten our budget belt on the cruise. If we skip the dolphin encounter, I suspect we may still get off the boat at Nassau and take in the local market by the dock.

Speaking of which, I'm glad we've been using our Disney Visa a lot lately .... lots of Disney Rewards dollars coming our way in January!

 

[TNLaura]

Welcome iu97 alum! My little ones are 4 and 5 and I am glad that they will have some same-age company! Hope it works out for you to come!

I looked at the excursions again yesterday and I still haven't jumped on any of them. Walking around Nassau/playing in the pools and playing on the beach (CC) are probably enough for our first cruise. But, it is hard not to be tempted . . .

 

[iu97alum]

Welcome iu97 alum! My little ones are 4 and 5 and I am glad that they will have some same-age company! Hope it works out for you to come!

I looked at the excursions again yesterday and I still haven't jumped on any of them. Walking around Nassau/playing in the pools and playing on the beach (CC) are probably enough for our first cruise. But, it is hard not to be tempted . . .

Thanks for the welcome! I hope to hear this week confirmation!

As for excursions, I don't think we'll book anything in Nassau. Probably find a beach and let the kids hang out there (they LOVE sand, water etc!) As for CC, haven't even looked yet to see what is available for the girls (Plus MIL) so we will need to do that soon so once we get our confirmation we can book.

On the fence about Palo's. Since this is DD's MAW trip, DH and I are wondering if we should do a dinner/brunch/etc there or just stick together as a family. Decisions, decisions!
dana

 

[iu97alum]

Anyone wanting to do the FE exhange on this trip?

 

[valtena]

The is my first cruise so I am to make reservations now. For those who have cruised before, is it a good idea to book bikes on Castaway Kay ahead of time or are they pretty much always available? I think my family would have fun riding bikes but it would be nice to wait see what the weather is like that day. I was hoping for brunch at Palo but it was already booked.

 

[VA_mouseman]

The is my first cruise so I am to make reservations now. For those who have cruised before, is it a good idea to book bikes on Castaway Kay ahead of time or are they pretty much always available? I think my family would have fun riding bikes but it would be nice to wait see what the weather is like that day. I was hoping for brunch at Palo but it was already booked.

I'd say there's no harm in making a bike ressie for CC .... you could always cancel it if necessary. You could probably get a more definitive answer on the Cruise forum itself.

 

[VA_mouseman]

Anyone wanting to do the FE exhange on this trip?

Maybe .... but I haven't put together a 'fish extender' before!

 

[iu97alum]

Anyone wanting to do the FE exhange on this trip?

Btt.. anyone?

 

[iu97alum]

Maybe .... but I haven't put together a 'fish extender' before!

Here's some threads that might help:
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1219607
and
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1950212
and
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1944142

Do any of these help?

 

[iu97alum]

We're BOOKED on the trip!!! YEA! It's offical!!

 

[iu97alum]

We're on Deck 2 this cruise, in an interior room. We've done a verandah room before and a porthole room too. Hmmm, maybe our next cruise will be a suite?

Anyone else signed up yet?

We're deck 2 as well! Hi neighbor!

 

[VA_mouseman]

We're deck 2 as well! Hi neighbor!

Congrats, and welcome aboard! We're in 2105 (port side, near the aft (back) elevators). Crossing my fingers for an upgrade but I'm being realistic that it won't happen.

 

[VA_mouseman]

OK, here's who we have so far --

VA_Mouseman (me), deck 2 (stateroom 2105)
Jamie (43), Suzanne (41), Benji (11) and Jonah 7)

DiznNut, deck 2
four adults, two kids

jennymc, deck 2
four adults, two kids

TNLaura, deck 6. First cruise!
six adults, two kids

stampinot
two adults, two kids

itutorfortravel - not sure if they booked or not

dld2005 - not sure if they booked or not

wheelerkidz3
two adults, three kids

valtena
two adults, two kids (birthday girl on the cruise!)

hoff41
two adults

iu97alum, deck 2
three adults, two kids (dd5 and dd3)

Did I miss anyone?

 

[iu97alum]

Congrats, and welcome aboard! We're in 2105 (port side, near the aft (back) elevators). Crossing my fingers for an upgrade but I'm being realistic that it won't happen.

Cool! We're 2604 & 2602!!! Aft as well.

 

[hoff41]

We are staying in 2068 and also hoping for that upgrade since we booked so early (we booking like 3 months ago).

I just realized that renting a car in some cases (like if u have a discount with a CC) is cheaper than taking the transfers so i cancelled my transfer and will rent a car and save some cash!