January 31, 2009--St, Croix/St. Thomas

[patten]

Hi there! I haven't checked in on this thread in awhile. We are all getting very excited. No cruise documents here either, so hopefully we'll get them soon. It looks like there are a couple other families from Wisconsin. We are, too. We are heading to Disney World for the week before the cruise, so we leave Milwaukee on the 24th. Yea!!! I've already started getting clothes ready since we obviously don't need our shorts around here right now.

I need to go back several pages and catch up on all the posts, but I just wanted to pop in and say hi!

Karen
(Traveling with husband, son-5, daughter-3)

 

[cruisinpenguin]

Hi Karen!! I see you have a 5 year old son My son will be turning 5 on the ship on February 5th.....maybe our sons will get to play with one another. We will be at the Promenade Lounge for 3pm (before the life boat drill) to meet some of the people on this thread....hope we meet up!! Laurie

 

[patten]

Sounds great Laurie! I'm sure Aidan would love to have a buddy.

 

[gmark2000]

Our tickets are here. Sorry for not visiting here lately. Been very busy.

 

[skrause]

Are documents have arrived im going ot are travel agent's tonight

 

[patten]

We just got ours, too! Getting very excited!

 

[CWO4DVC]

Ours arrived yesterday via UPS. Cold temps has us looking so forward to the end of the month!

 

[gmark2000]

Hi everyone!

Just got off the phone with DCL and this is the dining at the moment:

1/31 - Welcome aboard - Cruise casual
2/1 - At sea - Captain's Gala - Formal wear
(could be moved to 3rd night if they do Super Bowl broadcast)
2/2 - At sea - Cruise casual
2/3 - St. Croix - Pirate night
2/4 - St. Thomas - Cruise casual
2/5 - At sea - Semi Formal wear
2/6 - Castaway Cay - Farewell dinner - Cruise casual
2/7 - go home

They should get the Super Bowl.. but was told we will "be in International waters".

Just for everyone's information, we been on the last two Superbowl cruises in 2007 and 2008 and the formal/semi-formal night in both instances were moved to Monday. As well, in 2006 the formal night was also moved to the Monday from my own research prior.

The Superbowl is certainly broadcast throughout the ship, on the TVs in your cabin, on the giant Dumbotron up by Goofy's Pool, in the sports bar downstairs and in the lounges. There are special contests, prizes (plasma TVs!) and finger foods at the bars just for the occasion since it's a fairly big deal. The game is shown LIVE and if you want to watch the game, you must skip your dinner plans to find a TV.

I suppose the deferral of the Formal night to Monday is at the Captain's whim, that's why no one can say for sure until you get on the boat and actually see what's printed on your Personal Navigator. They've been doing it for at least the past three years so there's a precedent for sure.

 

[Mala]

gmark I think I've been on the same cruise as you before. I've hit the superbowl at least once on the cruise.

 

[patten]

We were on the Wonder last year for the Super Bowl and it was definitely broadcast. It's a fun day on the ship!

 

[aemsaw]

Some of you have mentioned cruising this time of year before. How was the weather? I am worried it may be to cool to enjoy pools and beaches. Keep in mind I am a Floridian and anything below 85 or so is too cold to swim....

 

[cdndizzylizzy]

Some of you have mentioned cruising this time of year before. How was the weather? I am worried it may be to cool to enjoy pools and beaches. Keep in mind I am a Floridian and anything below 85 or so is too cold to swim....

Hi,

We cruised about 3 weeks later the last 2 times, but I can't imagine that makes too much of a difference. Castaway Cay was beautiful both times - sunny, and definitely hot enough to want to go swimming. The water at Castaway felt a bit chilly when you first went in, but then you get used to it. Both times, we stayed in the water for an hour or more.

Since the other spots are further south, I imagine they will be warmer still.

The one thing that we have discovered is that we don't really need to bring tank tops, especially for night-time if you want to go up to Deck 9 - a t-shirt gives you a bit more warmth in the evening hours. We were watching Cars on the big screen at night (movies under the stars) and needed a sweater.

 

[Maureen9943]

Since this is our first cruise and I have started the packing process
Should I bring beach towels for the days that we are at the islands?

Thanks!

 

[cruisinpenguin]

Since this is our first cruise and I have started the packing process
Should I bring beach towels for the days that we are at the islands?

Thanks!

Hi Maureen: you really don't need to bring towels (unless you really want to) for the shore excursions because you can get them on the ship. What happens is whatever shore excursion you've booked you'll meet in one of the clubs, lounges or theatre and in the room they will have a table full of towels for you to take.

 

[cruisinpenguin]

So speaking of excursions......what has everyone decided on?

We're doing Magen's Bay in St. Thomas and St. Croix Highlights

 

[gmark2000]

Nada for excursions this time around. Will poke around Christiansted and Charlotte Amalie and retreat back to the ship.

 

[cdndizzylizzy]

Some of you have mentioned cruising this time of year before. How was the weather? I am worried it may be to cool to enjoy pools and beaches. Keep in mind I am a Floridian and anything below 85 or so is too cold to swim....

Update: The weather.com forecast for the Virgin Islands suggests temps of 81-83 for St Thomas and St Croix over the next 10 days...

 

[aemsaw]

Thank you for the weather report. It at least will be nice enough to hang out in the sand on the beach .....

It has been really cold even here in FL this week and I am even feeling ready to get away to warmer temps! Only 2 more weeks....can't wait.

Anyone else cruising with a baby? I hope I am able to get time at Flounders once on board as online the afternoon pickings are slim to none. An afternoon or two on sea days with our 3 kids in the kids programs would be nice for hubby and I.....There are evening times but not sure what night to put him in Flounders. We will leave that TBD....Is it usually easy to go over the 10 hour rule or are they pretty strict with this? If I had it my way he would be in there almost every afternoon to nap while we play and then more....that takes us well over the 10 hours though .... Guess I can take an occasional afternoon nap myself.

 

[skrause]

80's sounds great to me. We live in Colorado and are only getting an occasional 50 degrees. So were ready. I figured a light jacket over are tank top would be ok. I need to get my rear in gear. Do the rooms have blow dryers in them?

 

[Mala]

It's -22F here (that's actual temp... NEGATIVE TWENTY-TWO, not including wind chill factor). ANYTHING warmer will be a treat!!!!