January 28, 2012-do you believe in MAGIC?

[pryclssjen]

Wow that does make it a special trip. Does he know, or is it going to be a surprise? I was a soldier in another life, and I still have many friends that serve, so I know our family will be thinking about your DH's safe return and your time to reconnect.

Yes he knows. It is giving him something to look forward to and something for me to plan for to pass the days. He won't be home for Christmas, so we are going to go small on gifts then and slpurge on the cruise. I think we are even going to fit in a couple days at WDW too! Thank you for the kind thoughts!

 

[pryclssjen]

Has anyone read the new Passporter? I just got mine a couple weeks ago and I'm devouring it.
Anyone going to Palo? We've never been but we'd like to try it this cruise. I'm especially excited about the high tea!

Yes I got the deluxe edition for the cruise and I am busily marking pages and highlighting the things I need to remember! FYI, if you are an organization freak like me, they have some great worksheets on the website that you can personalize via PDF.

 

[castawaycayfans]

We were looking at excursions yesterday. Does anybody have any suggestions for St Maarten? We were looking at the Beach Rendevous and trying to decide. I think that we will do Doubloon in St Thomas, as we have done this before and loved it. Any thoughts?

 

[heyshanny]

Yes I got the deluxe edition for the cruise and I am busily marking pages and highlighting the things I need to remember! FYI, if you are an organization freak like me, they have some great worksheets on the website that you can personalize via PDF.

Ooh, thanks for the tip! I did not know this. I'm a list making fool so I'll be all over those worksheets!

 

[Jocelyne1stCruise]

I got the new PassPorter last week - what a fantastic resource! Between reading that & scouring the forums, I have cruising on the brain non-stop! LOL

I already started my packing list too (saved in my bberry) based on all the tips I've been reading online & in PassPorter - there's no way I can remember everything without keeping track somehow!!

 

[CruisingCamper]

Hello.. Greetings from Louisiana!!

I just had an entire post typed up and my IPad went dead and erased it all so he goes again..

It was fun this morning catching up on all the posts. Seems like everyone is getting excited about the cruise. I know that we are here.

I need to start doing an inventory on the kid summer clothes that I think they will still be able to wear once the cruise gets here. I may need to go shopping for them a few things when the summer things go on sale for end of the season. Kids grow so fast...

Also for formal night, we like to dress up DH has a tux, and I already have a few dresses, so no shopping needed there. Well... Unless I see a new one that I can't live without. I have also lost a lot of weight since the baby, so I may need a smaller size. I needed to loose it, I am still pretty heavy.. Still working on that

I am getting nervous about packing all the baby stuff for a 6 month old, so I have a plan.. We are arriving in Orlando 5 days pre cruise , so my plan is to go buy everything once get there, not from home. I can then put it all in a large duffle and had it over to the porters once we get to port. I may take the formula and bottles in my carry on since I may not find those on board if the luggage happened to get lost.

It will be here before we know it. I am going to order the planner today even though we have been on the ship before and on several others.. I still love getting ready and reading up on the cruise.

 

[princessjadesmom]

I had read on another thread about how the CM's like to recieve candy, so today I bought two large bags of candy to take with us. I figured with Halloween coming up this would be a good time to buy it, of coarse I didn't buy candy that looked like Halloween candy. Between the two bags, there are about 400 small candy bars, Twizzlers, and Jolly Ranchers. I plan to give a few to room service each time we order, a little bag for our room steward, waiter, & assistant waiter, and a bigger bag for the kids club workers to share. I hope that will give them a little pixie dust. I know it's a hard job.

 

[DCL Cruiser]

Greetings all. Is there room for one more?

We switched a different cruise to this one and just firmed it up tonight by booking our airline tickets. So we're in.

Not new to DCL, this will actually be our 10th cruise and 4th Eastern.

Looking forward to meeting/chatting with everyone here.

 

[DCL Cruiser]

We were looking at excursions yesterday. Does anybody have any suggestions for St Maarten? We were looking at the Beach Rendevous and trying to decide. I think that we will do Doubloon in St Thomas, as we have done this before and loved it. Any thoughts?

We've done the Under Two Flags tour in St. Maarten. It was a good overview of the entire island.

We have also done Orient Beach on our own - no tour. It was o.k., but windy that day and the water seemed rough on that side of the island.

What we like is actually going to the beach right where the ship docks. You can take the water taxi from the pier to the dock in town. If you want to do some shopping before or after, the shops are right there too.

Never did the Doubloon in St. Thomas. I've heard St. John's is really nice and I think they have a couple excursions over there. I personally would do a DCL excursion if I'm going to a separate island. Just don't want to miss the ship if we can't get back in time.

I remember on one cruise, a DCL excursion didn't get back until 45 minutes after the departure time. The ship was held for the group because it was booked through them. If it wasn't, all those people would have missed the ship.

Have fun planning. It is one of the best parts of the cruise.

 

[DCL Cruiser]

I read the posts regarding Formal Night. I think we will be going all out this cruise for Formal Night. We fully dressed up the first couple cruises, but haven't really the past few.

I think we will go back to it this time. Plus it makes for great pictures.

 

[DCL Cruiser]

Hi everyone!

I just wanted to pop in and introduce myself! I'm Jocelyne, I'm from Winnipeg and this will be my first cruise EVER... I'm so excited!! I'll be travelling with my 6 yr old DD and she has no idea about this cruise - going to be a Christmas surprise (if I can keep the secret that long!) I'm really hoping to meet some new people since I'm travelling solo... hope you're all as friendly as you seem! The FE sounds like great fun, and we'll likely join you on that!

See you soon!

Jocelyne

I remember our first cruise. I would go to DCL's website every day and watch their promotional video/commercial (I tried to link the youtube video, but it won't let me with less than 10 posts. I'll try to remember to put it up once I get to 10). It really got me excited for our cruise. We booked it almost a year in advance and couldn't wait for it to get here.

Nothing beats the first time you cruise DCL. The anticipation of getting to port, seeing the boat for the first time when you drive up, getting into their terminal and then finally boarding. I still remember that first time.

Don't get me wrong, we still get excited about each cruise, just that that first one is always much more special.

 

[castawaycayfans]

We've done the Under Two Flags tour in St. Maarten. It was a good overview of the entire island.

We have also done Orient Beach on our own - no tour. It was o.k., but windy that day and the water seemed rough on that side of the island.

What we like is actually going to the beach right where the ship docks. You can take the water taxi from the pier to the dock in town. If you want to do some shopping before or after, the shops are right there too.

Never did the Doubloon in St. Thomas. I've heard St. John's is really nice and I think they have a couple excursions over there. I personally would do a DCL excursion if I'm going to a separate island. Just don't want to miss the ship if we can't get back in time.

I remember on one cruise, a DCL excursion didn't get back until 45 minutes after the departure time. The ship was held for the group because it was booked through them. If it wasn't, all those people would have missed the ship.

Have fun planning. It is one of the best parts of the cruise.

WELCOME!!! We may just go to the beach in St Maarten. You mentioned the beach in town, what is it called? Sounds really simple, which sounds good to me.

I know what you mean about the safety of the DCL excursion. Our excursion in France was really late last year and they waited for us. I can't imagine if we had been on our own, although in Europe it would a lot easier to get to the next port than the Caribbean, except the next day was a sea day.

I love to plan for these cruises, even though we have been on several. This will be our 2nd eastern, we went to St Croix on the last one instead of St Maarten.

 

[castawaycayfans]

I had read on another thread about how the CM's like to recieve candy, so today I bought two large bags of candy to take with us. I figured with Halloween coming up this would be a good time to buy it, of coarse I didn't buy candy that looked like Halloween candy. Between the two bags, there are about 400 small candy bars, Twizzlers, and Jolly Ranchers. I plan to give a few to room service each time we order, a little bag for our room steward, waiter, & assistant waiter, and a bigger bag for the kids club workers to share. I hope that will give them a little pixie dust. I know it's a hard job.

I like the idea of that. We carried a bag of peppermints and handed them out to the stewards as we passed in the hallways. It always got a smile.

 

[castawaycayfans]

I am getting nervous about packing all the baby stuff for a 6 month old, so I have a plan.. We are arriving in Orlando 5 days pre cruise , so my plan is to go buy everything once get there, not from home. I can then put it all in a large duffle and had it over to the porters once we get to port. I may take the formula and bottles in my carry on since I may not find those on board if the luggage happened to get lost.

You remind me of our family when we took our DS at the age of 9 months. We drove and I took everything for every situation that I thought might arise. The porters looked at us like we were nuts when we unloaded the car. I had way overprepared, which was unusual for me with him being the 2nd child. We barely used half of the stuff that I took, but I was prepared. Now we sit back and laugh when we pack for the trip: no diapers, formula or baby food. Have fun getting ready, it sounds like the practical Mom has taken over for the planning and packing.

 

[princessjadesmom]

Greetings all. Is there room for one more?

We switched a different cruise to this one and just firmed it up tonight by booking our airline tickets. So we're in.

Not new to DCL, this will actually be our 10th cruise and 4th Eastern.

Looking forward to meeting/chatting with everyone here.

There's always room for one more!

 

[DCL Cruiser]

WELCOME!!! We may just go to the beach in St Maarten. You mentioned the beach in town, what is it called? Sounds really simple, which sounds good to me.

I know what you mean about the safety of the DCL excursion. Our excursion in France was really late last year and they waited for us. I can't imagine if we had been on our own, although in Europe it would a lot easier to get to the next port than the Caribbean, except the next day was a sea day.

I love to plan for these cruises, even though we have been on several. This will be our 2nd eastern, we went to St Croix on the last one instead of St Maarten.

Thanks for the welcome.

I believe the beach is simply called Great Bay Beach as it is in Great Bay (where the ships dock). It is right in front of the promonade and split by the water taxi pier. I think the right side (as you are looking from land towards water) is the better side of the beach. I also believe they have a water trampoline or inflatable climbing thing just off shore on that side.

If you go, just simply walk out of the cruise ship dock, go to your left a bit to the water taxi stand. Buy a round trip ticket as it will save you a little money. They may also sell an all day pass, which maybe beneficial if you plan on shopping or want to go back to the ship for something mid-day.

Speaking, there is plenty of shopping right there too. You can walk straight off the water taxi pier, in one block, and you're in the middle of the shopping district. Lots of jewelry stores there. There is also a small flea market way down to your right (as you're walking off the pier towards land). Best of all, there is a great chocolate store there. Can't remember the name offhand, buw will try to look it up. Worth the stop.

Back to the beach, don't settle for the first person who is "hawking" chairs. Find the best deal or two and then "negotiate" them down. Work one guys price against the other. I think we paid $15 or $20 for our chairs, umbrella, and a couple of sodas, but the main thing is the use of a bathroom at one of the restaurants or bars.

If you have more question, ask. I'm sure I didn't include everything you'll need to know.

The only other beach I heard of but haven't tried is Dawn Beach. Not sure how far that one is or how popular. Orient was fine to take a taxi to, as there were plenty to choose from to get back. Not sure about Dawn though.

We will probably just shop first in the morning and then go to Great Bay Beach. No matter what you do, the island is gorgeous.

 

[DCL Cruiser]

There's always room for one more!

Thanks for the welcome. It is always fun meeting people on the cruises and the DIS.

 

[CruisingCamper]

Hi Everyone! Getting ready to pay for our cruise soon. Can't believe Oct is around the corner, then before you know it, Jan will be here!

 

[castawaycayfans]

Hi Everyone! Getting ready to pay for our cruise soon. Can't believe Oct is around the corner, then before you know it, Jan will be here!

I NEED A VACATION!!! Please come quickly Jan!!!

 

[CruisingCamper]

Me too!!!