January 4, 2003!!!!

[crusnprincesses]

We are still undecided about where we will be the night before. We are booked at the AKL until the 27th, but as silly as it seems, I think I will have to fly home for the week in between to take care of business. So, until we figure that out, looks like we will see everyone on the ship! We have WICKED colds right now, so I am glad we have some time to get better before we get onboard! I will have to scour the boards later today for info on the Western itinerary, I wasn't planning to do anything until about February....anyone have any tips on best shopping in ports?!

 

[mmouse37]

Welcome crusnpricesses!!!! Our group is certainly growing!!!! I have listed two links to our Western cruise this past August. It shows lots of pics of some of the excursions we took including Stingray City in Grand Cayman and Mr. Sanchos beach in Cozumel. There are also pics of the ship, Palo brunch, interior shots, etc. Feel free to check them out!

http://community.webshots.com/album/47984596ZcaNXp

http://community.webshots.com/album/48196942XWkiMx


Edith...my sister and her family bought a house in Chester, about 9 months ago...we go through Morristown to get to her!!!

We are also lined up for the ice storm..I would like to go get my tree this morning and spend tonight decorating!!! Play the Harry Connick Christmas CD (love that CD!), pour some eggnog, watch the ice storm, and get frazzled untangling the lights!!!!

Keep warm everyone!!

MJ

 

[Lisa F]

Wow, I missed a ton of messages last night! Welcome crusnprincesses! Arent' the savings wonderful? (or maybe I should say magical!) We just downgraded from a cat 10 on the same cruise to a cat 11 and saved $800 on that alone! We never spend much time in our room anyway. My grandmother is 39 and no questions asked, perhaps nanna is the same age?

About shopping in the western ports, I'm not sure the shopping is as good there as it is on the eastern itinerary. Anyone know? I just haven't seen much about shopping, but I really don't know. I'm sure that there is some kind of "shopping in paradise" guide to those ports though! Last year in January we took the eastern and I got the most beautiful platinum engagement ring setting (I developed an allergy to the nickle in gold and could not wear my rings anymore!). It's really different than anything I've seen in the US and I still get compliments on it! Hubbie has said that's IT for shopping for me.

Does anyone know anything about Chankanaab in Cozumel? A friend just went on a Celebrity cruise that stopped in Cozumel and she said that it wasn't that great. She thought it was way more geared toward kids than adults. That HAD been what we were planning to do but now I feel like we should find something else to do. Eep! She does like disney and is not anti-kid... just found Chankanaab to not be too adult friendly.

Lisa

 

[prymsu]

shopping will not be as good IMHO as it is on the eastern. GC is very expensive...You can find a lot of good deals in Cozumel though, so that is where i would do my shopping.

 

[edith76]

All is well. The FedEx guy finally came. I was getting worried. What is the best beach/snorkeling option in Cozumel? We were planning on CNP, but is Mr. Sanchos a better option for adults? Is it easy to get to?

Getting exited now thanks to all of you.
MJ, we go to Chester a lot. The little town is a nice day. And its where our parrot spends his vacation.

 

[crusnprincesses]

mmmouse - Have you done the ice storm thing before? I don't envy any of you, and know exactly where you are. We experienced a devastating icestorm a few years ago...army was called out and everything!(You have to understand that that is unheard of in Canada....) We had no power for 17 days, my mum was in a shelter as we couldn't get to her, etc..etc. Really awful...stock up on batteries and get fuel for generator is my advice! Make sure you have a ski-doo ready to whisk you away to the nearest open airport, cruising is much more civilized!
That is a bummer about the shopping! We've done 2 eastern cruises so far, and although it wasn't spectacular, there were somethings even the lowly canadian dollar could justify buying. I'm just looking forward to escaping for a while, and putting some magic back in my little girl's heart! I will check out the links now, thanks guys!

 

[beautyandbeast]

Gosh, it sounds so cold over on the east coast. We've been hovering around 68 here is Arizona. It would be nice if it did snow here sometimes. Especially around Christmas. I guess I'm going to call DCL again and find out if they've sent our docs yet. I'm really anxious to receive them, as all the info for ordering dh tux is there! I'm trying to get ready for Christmas and do the usual baking etc. but I think I'm to preoccupied with cruising. I think I need to take a deep breath and calm down!

Lynda

 

[BuzznBelle'smom]

We received our documents today!!! I'm so psyched, I had planned to be home ALL DAY tomorrow, waiting, but then found out they were left on our tenant's doorstep!

Crusnprincesses, I didn't realize you were from Quebec--my DD would definitely love meeting your DD, as Belle is very "into" languages--she's fluent in German, and has been learning Spanish just for the cruise! I don't have the heart to tell her that, on our one day in Mexico, she probably won't even need to read a menu in Spanish!

We are also familiar with power outages up here, but usually they only last a few hours (plenty long enough), and most people have generators, woodstoves, etc. to get them through. Definitely looking forward to some time in the sun!

 

[Cheryl N. WI]

crusnprincesses welcome to the Jan. 4 Magic! My DD is 8 and I'm sure she'd love to meet your DD and Belle (our puppy's name is officially Princess Daisy Belle but we call her Belle LOL). We aren't completely sure of where we are staying Friday night yet (we have reservations at 4 different places right now. I better remember to cancel all the one's we don't want LOL.) but it will probably be at the Radisson.
We were having some bitter cold weather here in southern WI up until about 2 days ago but today we had low 40's, it felt like a heat wave! Hopefully this warmer weather will make it East to warm everyone up and melt the ice! Sending pixie dust!
Only 3 1/2 weeks to go!!

Cheryl

 

[mmouse37]

Cheryl.....our yellow lab puppy (well she's really 6 but acts like a puppy) is also called Princess Daisy!!!! We usually just call her Daisy Girl!!!

I think we might have lucked out with the ice storm. Temps don't look like they will get low enough to freeze...thank goodness...but, it is raining cats and dogs!!!

Cozumel was 85 today!!! Can't wait....

MJ

 

[cottoncandy]

welcome- crusnprincesses
We are doing the ice storm thing here in PA today. No school and power just returned. But despite all of the rain and ice on my driveway, the FedEx man did deliver.
I still haven't heard from Joanna. I will try her again tomorrow. Don't want to seem like a pest.


Candy

 

[Lisa F]

Guess what, everybody!!!

Our docs are FINALLY here! Woooooo hoo! They reflect our old stateroom and fare, but DCL posted the difference in fare to our CC so I'm not worried about that. At least I have some pieces of paper in my hot little hands saying we are going CRUISING!!!!!!!

Lisa

 

[mmouse37]

Congrats Lisa......I am glad your docs finally came!!! I keep checking my ressie online to see if we are assigned a stateroom # yet...we are still at GTY status....hope they assign it soon!!!

Anyway, I was just reading over on the LIVE 12/7 thread that a few people were reported sick this...hope it does not develop into many more... Let's keep our fingers crossed!!!!

MJ

 

[Lisa F]

MJ,

What cat are you in? I just checked to see how sold out the cruise is and it looks like all of the cat 11's (the one with the rock bottom prices) are now sold out. Wow, I feel lucky to have been able to make the change when I did! NOW the decision is whether to see if the $760 that we saved vs. a cat 10 will buy us an upgrade to a verandah at the port (oh, the games we play!) and whether we want to actually spend it on a verandah. I suspect hubbie will STILL vote a resounding "NO!"

I have been following the 12/7 thread. I will really miss the 24 hour drink station as we tend to drink a lot of water on board. I hope there is some other way to stay hydrated without having to lug aboard a week's worth of bottled water (or pay disney prices for bottled water!) I also hope no one else gets sick... for two reasons... one, I don't wish that on ANYONE on vacation and two, I don't want the problem to build up again so that the Magic has to go out of service our week! Even if sickness on board reaches the "epidemic" levels of before (tongue in cheek there) I think we will be okay by hand washing and following some basic precautions. I would think that if anyone is sick on this cruise that their stateroom would get a complete linens/mattress change and sanitization before the next passengers get on. Probably not necessary for the entire ship though. It does seem like the precautions that Disney is taking to prevent the spread of the virus once it is aboard are working but I guess we will really know on the next cruise if that is the case. If it is not, I'm sure the press will jump all over it.

Oh well, keeping fingers crossed. No matter what happens we are going to have a wonderful vacation (or should I say magical???) I just HOPE it's on board the ship!

Lisa

 

[mmouse37]

Lisa....we are in a Cat 9 GTY. I sailed on this last Feb and I think we found out our stateroom number about two weeks before the cruise by checking our ressie online. I really don't mind if we are on Deck 1 or Deck 2.

MJ

 

[beautyandbeast]

Lisa, this must be docs day! We got ours this morning also!!! Whew. I was so excited the fed ex lady now wants to go on a cruise! Well, glad that all is finally starting to fall into place for all of us. Now all we need to do is relax and have a happy sailing!

Lynda

 

[crusnprincesses]

Glad to hear everyone is getting ready...I still haven't found anyone to horse/house/farm sit! We leave for WDW on the 23rd....no panic, right?
BuzzandBellesmom & Cheryl - I told my dd Ashley about your girls, and she was soooo happy! She was worried there wouldn't be any girls her age to play with. Don't ask me why, she has always found children her own age to play with before! Ash is in an immersion program at school, but absolutely cannot stand French days...she had one bad teacher in an earlier grade, and that was it...she can speak a little french though!
BeautyandBeast= I noticed you are getting dh tux for formal...is everyone bringing gowns?! I'm bringing my New Years gown people, so if you are offended by sparkles, bring a good pair of shades! We loooove to dress up, advance warning!!!

 

[mmouse37]

I am bringing a long black dress for Formal night and plan on wearing the same dress with a jacket over it for semi-formal.

MJ

 

[Lisa F]

Hubbie has a tux (well, it's ready to be picked up today!) but I don't really have a "gown"... I have a sort of lower calf length chiffon a-line dress and a beaded jacket to go over it (black). For semi-formal I have a black knee length dress with some beads at the neck. For palo i have this red outfit. Trying to decide if hubbie can wear the tux to palo while I wear my red outfit (which is less dressy than the other two, but probably more dressy than his sport jacket is). We are planning palo on our last night. We have another black tie event to go to in the spring so he decided to buy a tux since he REALLY wanted to wear a tux on the cruise! I have to laugh at imgoingtodisney and her trouble getting her hubbie's measurements because I am married to a man who WANTS to dress up! (he used to be in the airforce and I'm kind of disappointed that the mess dress isn't appropriate anymore, nor does it fit, but then again on his salary in the AF we probably couldn't have afforded the disney cruise! Tradeoffs for everything!)

We also have matching mickey tropical shirt (for him) and skirt (for me) that was on clearance in the disney catalog months ago!

I think we are all set!

Lisa

 

[edith76]

We'll be wearing whatever we can fit into. I haven't had a chance to Christmas shop let alone anything else. Just once I would like to be be prepared for a trip.