January 13, 2007 - 7 Night Magic Western

[cepmom]

Do they still sell the DCL lanyards at the Guest Services? I'd like to get a new one.


Theresa

DiaLady ~
since you are Castaway Club members, you should receive DCL castaway club lanyards and pins for each person in your group when you check in. No need to buy new ones!

 

[skylynx]

We are up early, DH is making me his signature French Kiss toast as we are both working from home today, and I plan to dig out my lime green Disboard logo tshirt as part of the packing process after I finish off an article for work. That will be my part to help with the group identification!

We'll also be digging out all the pirate gear, the mask and fins, and the formalwear. Like some others on the list, we LOVE to dress up, and the tux DH bought for our first cruise years ago has paid for itself many times over, as as the white dinner jacket he found on ebay! Bond...James Bond...

To get us in the mood this gray, sober Chicagoland morning, we are blasting the soundtrack to Illuminations and the Tapestry of Nations parade. Does anyone else miss that parade terribly? It's what DH and I were watching the night we met at a Disney Institute class outing, and he proposed during it (many months later). The tin man guy is our favorite, and the subject of a very Magical Moment when, during the parade, immediately after our engagement, the "tin man" ignored several children hopping up and down for his attention and came over to where we sat on the curb, bowed, and offered his "hand." How could they have known? They couldn't, of course, but we never forgot the moment.

Happy packing everyone...we leave for Orlando two weeks from tomorrow!

 

[pdarrah]

Good morning everyone!

Well, we've taken DS7 and my parents to the airport and they are on their way. I did good and refrained from bursting into tears until after they had walked through the doors into the terminal. My father has promised to contact me somehow each day (phone, fax, email) so at least I'll know they are all OK....

DH is working at home today and I'm holding down the fort at the family business (with my father away, I have to be here to make any decisions.) Hopefully, DH will fit in some house cleaning as well

I haven't seen any requests for changes on the meets, so I'll get the list posted on the website sometime today. I'm pretty sure that DS & I wll both be wearing something lime green at the terminal and sail-away. Probably, once a few of us meet up it will start getting obvious where the meet is at.

pdarrah

 

[Chuckles]

Hello all! Recently returned to the good old US of A and suddenly came to the realization.....I'M CRUISING IN TWO WEEKS!!!!
I know DW (Ginny) has been deeply immersed in planning for months, so I'm sure we'll be ready and just perfect!
Under the topic of "manly men...doing manly things...with other manly men..." I would like to invite other DIS DH's (and DW's if so inclined) to join for a drink and cigar during the Cigar Club periods. Nothing quite like trash talking under the stars with a good cigar (Cuban even better) and a cognac.

Happy, safe New Years to all!

 

[Bytor01]

Are the documents you are receiving the same ones that can be filled out on the DCL web site? Or are there more forms that need to be filled out? Just wondering.

Tim

 

[Bytor01]

Well, accuweather has the 15 day forecast and it is showing a chance of rain on the 12th. We are flying out from NY on that day. They are saying 41 degrees as well. So that is good. As long as it does not snow we will be all right, I guess. Flying out the day before just helps and knowing we do not have to go anywhere other than upstairs to the Hyatt is even better.

Tim

 

[cepmom]

well our 15 day forecast for the 12th is rain and freezing rain. Hopefully it will only be rain and we can get off without delays. That is my biggest fear right now. We have the last flight out of Manchester booked as the next earliest nonstop was in the morning. DD can not miss the whole day of school on Friday since she will be missing the whole next week. I'll be keeping my fingers crossed for good weather.

as for documents, there is a Bahamas form that needs to be filled out before you arrive at the terminal. Your luggage tags will also be in the package. I think everything else is redundant if you already did online check in.

 

[DiaLady]

I'm trying hard to imagine that we only have two weeks to go and we're cruising with Mickey again! DH spent the evening double checking his numbers. He's so smart. He saved our list of cruise expenses that he got from Guest services on last year's cruise.

We're so excited! OH and we went to HomeDept tonight and got our lime green Mickeys Can't wait to put them in my new lanyard.

We also changed our reservations for the night before to the Country Inn and Suites in Cocoa Beach. It was $60 cheaper than Residence Inn!

Have a super Saturday!

 

[Bytor01]

Been bouncing around and have come up with the idea of getting some supplies in Key West, if I can. Question, Can I buy beer and wine in KW and bring it on the ship (of course will keep receipt)? If I can bring beer and wine on, does anyone know of a place to buy it close to the ship?

Tim

2 weeks to go

 

[familycruiser]

Just got out cruise documents....we had booked a cat. 6 GTY back in Oct. I thought by now we would have a room assignment but we still don't! Does anyone have this issue? My in-laws are going and are linked with us...they got their room assignment as room 5144 which looks like is a metal balcony not a plexiglass one like most of them. Has anyone had these? Since they are older and will be spending a lot of time in their room on the balcony, I wish they got one that they could see the ocean while sitting on the balcony. I think our cruise is really full and I 'm nervous that we don't have room assigment yet.

I am starting to make a packing list...thanks for the links and tips. We are flying on Thurs. before the cruise and we were going to stay on Ron Jons but have decided to change it to Orlando so we can go to MK on Friday before the cruise. Are we going to exhaust ourselves before the cruise by doing this? My ds5 and dd8 haven't been for 4 years and don't really remember it. Is there another park that they would enjoy more?

 

[DiaLady]

I think our cruise is really full and I 'm nervous that we don't have room assigment yet.

I agree with you that our cruise is really full. I tried to make a reservation on our cruise this week and DCL.com only brought up 1/27 western. I was hoping to see what it might cost to upgrade at the port. I'm suprised there are not more folks on the DIS boards chatting with us . . . We had a much larger DIS representation on our Nov cruise last year. Maybe a lot of people got the cruise last minute as a Christmas gift???

As for your in-laws room, can you call DCL and request a different one? Maybe ask you TA??

Let us know what happens . . .

Theresa

 

[skylynx]

Hi, there...if you can possibly change from the solid verandah wall, I'd do it. On our second cruise we had a cabin on the Wonder which sold as a Cat 6 but had the solid verandah AND the ship's aft structure blocking part of the view over the rail. It was hot on the balcony as the metal kept the heat in, and darker. I wrote a gripe letter afterward to Lee Kitchen about this room hardly being the caliber of a midship, plexiglass Cat 6 for the same price and got a polite snuffing out. I know this may be complaining of truffles, but although some people report they like the metal wall verandahs, I won't pay Cat 6 prices for a stateroom that has one. I'd rather pick another travel date. You cannot sit in your deck chairs and see the water without cranking your head up and over, or lie on your bed, sit at the desk, etc. and see the ocean. In all honesty, it didn't ruin our enjoyment of that cruise, but it did detract from it because we tend to spend so much time out on the verandah.

Good luck if you decide to switch!

 

[Bytor01]

How do you know that you will have a metal as compared to plexiglass verandah on the Magic? Are there certain portions of the ship that have them or are they random?

Just got an e-mail from my TA and she says the docs are on the way. Sweet....

Tim

 

[cepmom]

I agree with you that our cruise is really full. I tried to make a reservation on our cruise this week and DCL.com only brought up 1/27 western. I was hoping to see what it might cost to upgrade at the port. I'm suprised there are not more folks on the DIS boards chatting with us . . . We had a much larger DIS representation on our Nov cruise last year. Maybe a lot of people got the cruise last minute as a Christmas gift???

As for your in-laws room, can you call DCL and request a different one? Maybe ask you TA??

Let us know what happens . . .

Theresa

I noticed that our cruise date will no longer come up on disneycruise.com....DH's uncle was rather generous this Christmas and I thought for a moment we'd try to upgrade to verandah rooms. I'm sure it's a long shot since we need to have connecting rooms. Oh well....maybe we can use the money for a another trip instead!

 

[Ginny]

Dear Family Cruiser -

You can go to this link:

http://www.wdwinfo.com/wdwinfo/cruise-new/roomlist.cfm

and type in the room number. There are some reviews for 5144 already there and one speaks to some advantages which might make it a great stateroom for your in-laws for location and quiet and outweigh the verandah issue in the long run.

I just checked on the Platinum Castaway Club Website and Barb & Tony list the obstructed Verandah Rooms as: 6134, 6634, 7120, 7620. They are no longer classified as CAT 6 but are now CAT 10. So, it doesn't appear that your in-laws' view will be obstructed but they just won't have the plexiglass one.

I'm crossing my fingers that you either get your room soon..........OR an upgrade!!

Dear Tim -

The aft staterooms have the metal verandahs vice the plexiglass. You can see the difference when you look at the ship. You can compare your stateroom number with the Deck Plan or do a Stateroom check on the link above.


Hope the info above helps on the Verandah questions.

 

[Bytor01]

Dear Tim -

The aft staterooms have the metal verandahs vice the plexiglass. You can see the difference when you look at the ship. You can compare your stateroom number with the Deck Plan or do a Stateroom check on the link above.


Hope the info above helps on the Verandah questions.[/QUOTE]

Funny but that is exactly what I was doing today after I posted. I did come up with possibly the same conclusion and you just make it seem plausible and correct now. Thanks.

Tim

 

[Ginny]

Hi, Tim -

It must simply be a case of "great minds thinking alike!" Hope all will work out the way you planned!!


Ginny

 

[cepmom]

Happy New Year everyone! I hope everyone had a nice New Year's Eve.
Now that the holidays are over, I am in full vacation mode. I have a list a mile long of things to get and do this week to get ready for the trip. I can't believe it is next week!!!

I have a question regarding getting off the ship at Grand Cayman....maybe some of you vetern cruisers can answer for me. How long does it typically take to get off the ship? We have an excursion scheduled with Captain Marvin's and need to be at the shop at 9:15. I'm not sure what time we should leave to get there on time. We've only done 3 and 4 night cruises before so the tendering thing is new to us.

Has anyone ever ordered from The Perfect Gift before? I am thinking of ordering a gift basket for the kids. I have heard all wonderful things about Shirley. I was thinking about having her add some underwater cameras to the basket so I won't need to bring them from home. Any other suggestions onwhat to have her put in the basket?

 

[Bytor01]

Anyone with info on bringing wine and beer on the ship from KW and also are there any Key West liquor stores by the ship, just in case the answer to question 1 is yes, as I asked a couple of posts back? Figured I would ask again.

Looks like partly cloudy and 80 degrees in KW when we are there. Long range forecast is looking great for my fly out on Friday, as well. Real excited by that.

Hate to get a countdown going but can anyone say 12 days...

Hope everyone had a great New Year's eve and a fantastic start to 2007. It will only get better...see earlier countdown.

Tim

 

[skylynx]

Bytor01 There is a liquor store at Key West close to Mallory Square, so not a long walk at all from the ship. We didn't go in it, but it's in the background of a photo I took last time we cruised there...hopefully it is still there. I can't imagine there wouldn't be others. There's also a very ceremonious pub crawl kind of thing you can do visiting either Hemingway or Jimmy Buffett's many historical watering holes.

Happy New Year fellow Disboarders...Well, we met our aspirations of being packed and ready to go by New Year's Day. We even made our door sign. We've started a tradition of using two 12x12 signs...one that we re use each cruise and the other with destination and date specific pictures and stuff on it that becomes the first page of our cruise scrapbook afterward. The only thing left to do is cull any clothes that won't work after we get a little closer to the date and can guess a bit better whether the post-cruise weather in Orlando will be cooler or warmer (so ditch the capris and long sleeve shirts for shorts and camisoles). Other than that, all but stuff we can't put in until the last minute is ready. It is a good feeling, as I worry with our not so magical Chicagoland weather we may have to flee early to escape a snowstorm.

We had a great day. I made DH a completely deliciously unhealthy breakfast of eggs, sausage, hash browns and toast. Then we thrilled our budget conscious selves by getting 75% off holiday plunder from Target. Off then to ride the ponies, toss some filet mignons on the gas grill, and revel in how lucky, lucky, lucky we are to have what we have, and a cruise coming up, to boot.

I hope this day finds everyone with something to be grateful for.