January 3, 2011 - 5 night Bahamas Sailing

[BigHugsForEeyore]

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[Georgia3]

This is our third cruise. I did our past books traditionally because I like to incorporate things I pick up on the ship. I have since found digital to be easier. I will have to make that decison after the cruise.
Maybe we can all create a border to share. I have the Creative Memories punches that make some cute borders. It is not hard to make a dozen of the same thing to share. I am not sure how many people would like to share? Then we can have different creative ideas to incorporate in our albums. Plus, I have gotten some cute paper photo frames as FE gifts that I have used in my past albums.
We have 3 families that are joining us on their 1st Disney Cruise. My daughters best friends family and my bother in law and sister in laws families. We are surprising all of the kids this Christmas.
Let me know your thoughts on creating some borders?

 

[Silverfox97]

I also want to be added - please tell me how or who to contact.

KrisannB
Ashlyn 15
Aaron 13

PM Ssanders79 with your info. He will update the list.

 

[Georgia3]

I was looking at the register your child documentation on line, it has a mickey band replacement cost $50. Can anyone explain what a mickey band is? We had a pager in 2008 but I have never heard of a Mickey Band? Is this something new?

 

[Suz D]

I still need to buy airfare too. We'll probably fly out if Indy. CVG is usually way higher even though its closer.

We're on your cruise but I've been too busy for the last couple of weeks to introduce myself. Where do you live in Indiana? We lived in Bloomington up until 2008 so of course we flew out of Indy. My in-laws are coming with us for their first ever cruise and they are also from B-ton. They are flying out of Pittsburgh, however, because they are coming to celebrate the holidays with us right before the cruise.

 

[Suz D]

Hi everyone!

We're excited to be joining you for this cruise. We cancelled our MR cruise because the deal on this double dip was too good to pass up (and we can drive to Fl which saves even more $$).

This will be our 6th DC and I'm more excited about this one than I was for our first. It never gets old for me. We are a family of 4. Me (Suz), DH (Jeff), DD#1 (Katie-15) and DD#2 (Bobbie-4). We finally persuaded my in-laws to try a cruise so they will be traveling with us as well.

What is the deadline to get in on FE's? I'm not sure if we'll do it but I want to keep the deadline in mind as I plan out my time over the next few months. Looking forward to getting to know you all in a virtual way, as well as meeting in person.

Suz

 

[Suz D]

I also want to be added - please tell me how or who to contact.

KrisannB
Ashlyn 15
Aaron 13

Hi, I'd love to have our DD's correspond, but the cruise is a Christmas gift for our girls so they'll be in the dark until Christmas Eve. Are you going to be home up until cruise time? If so, perhaps our girls could correspond a bit between Christmas and New Year's.

 

[Suz D]

Does anyone on our cruise scrapbook? If so, do you want to share some ideas on scrapbooking pages from our cruise? Maybe share some Disney things to put on our pages? I am not sure if I am going to do a digital book or a conventional one but maybe we can get a group together to discuss?

Georgia,
I am a consultant for a scrapbooking company and on our 2007 cruise I did a really fun thing. Our daughter (11 at the time) is pretty shy and at the time was an only child. I wanted her to get aquainted with someone on the cruise so I put together the "parts" for a mini-scrapbook and had a little "class" for the 8-12 year old girls in our Disboards group. It was so much fun but a lot of work and a lot of stuff for me to haul onboard. Katie did make a really neat friend and spent a good portion of the cruise with her. We still correspond with her family occasionally.

I am doing something fun for our scrapbook for this cruise. I did the same thing for a WDW trip a few years ago and now want to do a DCL one. About a week before we sail we'll have a special DCL family night and come up with at least one DCL related thing that begins with each letter of the alphabet. For example...

A-Atrium
B-Beach
C-Castaway Cay

You get the point...then when we cruise we will make sure to take a picture of the kids with each of those things. With my WDW one I just made a 6x6 scrapbook because I only had one picture on each page. I had the letter of the Alphabet, the journaling explaining it, and of course the picture. For the picture of our daughter with Piglet I put that she always called him Pig-a-let which helps us remember not just the thing but the real memory.

I will probably do a 9x9 scrapbook this time so I don't have to crop the picture as much and will also have room for a couple of pictures on a page if necessary.

I'm excited to meet all of you!

I forgot to add that I provided all of the materials free of charge for the mini-scrapbooks. I don't want people thinking I'm trying to sell my products or fishing for an invite to do that again. It was fun, but now she'll be 15 and isn't into scrapping at all (darn it!).

 

[Silverfox97]

What is the deadline to get in on FE's?

You have time - it's not until Dec 1st

I like the 11 year age difference between your kids.....we have DD 3 1/2 and although we'd like 2 children, we are not at all ready to add on another......maybe that will change once she starts school. My brother and I are 7 years apart

 

[Suz D]

I was looking at the register your child documentation on line, it has a mickey band replacement cost $50. Can anyone explain what a mickey band is? We had a pager in 2008 but I have never heard of a Mickey Band? Is this something new?

They have a new ID system that is computerized. The kids wear a watch sized band for the entire cruise. When they are checked in and out of the club their band is scanned. It's also GPS according to guest services. How did I come to find out that information from guest services, you might wonder.

Well, I went to give feedback on a few things and mentioned how cumbersome the bands are. They are huge for those little ones. It was so frustrating for our 4 year old. Everytime she got dressed or undressed it caught on her clothes. I said to Guest Services, "Seriously, they can put a bar code on those teeny weeny price tags on the merchandise in the shops. Why in the world do they give these little kids a band that is the size of a diving watch?". They all thought that was pretty funny.

 

[Suz D]

You have time - it's not until Dec 1st

I like the 11 year age difference between your kids.....we have DD 3 1/2 and although we'd like 2 children, we are not at all ready to add on another......maybe that will change once she starts school. My brother and I are 7 years apart

Thanks for letting me know on that!

The age difference in our kids came about in a very special way. Our oldest (15 when we cruise) was born 12 weeks early and weighed just one pound 1/4 oz. She was 11 inches long and in the hospital for 87 days. We were never able to have more children and although we started the adoption route several times, it just seemed like we were trying to "sell" ourselves to someone. We finally decided that one was all that was in the plan for us and we were at peace. In our prayers we told God that if he had something else in mind for us it would have to be a basket on our doorstep.

Well, that's pretty much what happened. A woman from our church got temporary custody of her granddaughter. After three months she asked if we would become licensed foster parents and help care for her. At my age, the first answer was "Absolutely NOT! I'm way too old for a 5 month old. She asked us to pray about it and my DH, our DD and I all got the same response. So we got our FP license and Bobbie became a temporary member of our family. After nearly 2 years, the state came to an agreement with her biological parents and they signed over their parental rights and we were then able to adopt her. Shortly after her 2nd birthday she became or 2nd (and last! ) child. She's a joy and a blessing in our lives.

Sorry for the long post, but you just never know who's going through something where they need to be uplifted or encouraged. I try to share her story often.

 

[Suz D]

Does anyone know anything more about the possibility of having all three ships at CC when we're there? Where did the original information come from? I'm so excited to think that we might be part of what is likely a once in a lifetime occurance!

 

[Silverfox97]

By the way, I am so upset that I had to get new tickers Apparently, www.*********************** went down.......

 

[Silverfox97]

Does anyone know anything more about the possibility of having all three ships at CC when we're there? Where did the original information come from? I'm so excited to think that we might be part of what is likely a once in a lifetime occurance!

I don't think it will be at CC, but I could be wrong. Here's my speculation...

The Wonder leaves port Jan 6th at 5pm, and the Magic (us) will be at CC, so I don't think it will be that day. BUT, on the 7th, the Magic will be at sea/on her way back to the Port (as our cruise ends Jan 8th), and the Wonder will be at CC, so I'll bet the pic is going to be 1) early AM with all 3 ships at sea, &/or 2) Wonder docked at CC with the Magic and Dream at sea.

Seems like the most logical, so we'll see! It's mostly just rumors, but it seems to be the most popular theory on the rest of the boards.

 

[Suz D]

Thanks for clarifying about the three ships. I should have said in the vicinity of CC. Wouldn't that be awful to have that many people on CC at once? My thought was that it could be after the Wonder docks at CC then they would be docked and we'd be in the background. I just wasn't sure if this was a rumor with substance and I haven't been able to find a lot about it on the boards.

It sounds like it is at least a remotely possible event!

 

[lakehead92]

By the way, I am so upset that I had to get new tickers Apparently, www.*********************** went down.......

Oh No, is that why mine hasn't been correct in days! I don't want to start mine over either.

 

[BigHugsForEeyore]

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[Suz D]

Hey, if any of you are interested, check out my trip report from our 5 night double dip we did in August. Lots of pics, especially of food

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2551452

I just read your "Wonder"ful trip report. What an adorable daughter you have. Our daughter turned 4 in June so they look about the same age. I'm sure they will see each other in the clubs.

Your husband's photos are outstanding. It's obviously a hobby that he does very well! Looking forward to seeing you onboard.

 

[mommyofthreeboys]

We're on your cruise but I've been too busy for the last couple of weeks to introduce myself. Where do you live in Indiana? We lived in Bloomington up until 2008 so of course we flew out of Indy. My in-laws are coming with us for their first ever cruise and they are also from B-ton. They are flying out of Pittsburgh, however, because they are coming to celebrate the holidays with us right before the cruise.

We live in Southest Indiana. About an 1 1/2 hrs from B-town. Yes, B-town....apparently thats what the college kids call it now. My niece goes to IU so thats all I hear

 

[Georgia3]

Does our cruise have a formal night? If so, which night? Or is it just the Pirates Night on the 5 night cruise?