January 5, 2013 Fantasy Cruise to the Western Caribbean

[Morsel (Chris/Lynn)]

We are, as of the end of yesterday, another week closer to January 5 cruise day. Maybe that will cheer people up as we prepare to begin another work week. Hot Dog! Hot Digitty Dog!

 

[brackjr]

Tomorrow I will pay my final installment on this cruise. Still do not have any plans for shore excursions. Maybe might even stay onboard the whole time ..... except for Castaway Cay.

 

[Morsel (Chris/Lynn)]

Good luck to all those who will be doing their on-line check-in and making ressies tonight.

Chris

 

[MorganR]

Hello Everyone!
Been A While Since i Wrote on HERE! Been So attached to the Facebook Page!
Has Anyone started Packing yet?

Did the Online Check-In and Got a Time of 11:30!
Did anyone Else Get that time too?

Its been REALLY Hard Trying to find Teens for me and My husband
Hope that will change SOON since we are SO close!

Well Since MY Group is Going to WDW Before we are going CRAZY over here at our house with Dinner Reservations, what parks to go on what days!

SO much to do SO little Time!

How is Everyone doing?
I hope everyone is Great!
Life Updates??

Well for ME, This is my Sons FIRST Halloween! We are all very Exited! He is Going to be Batman!
Me and My husband WERE going to dress up as well BUT we recently found out he goes to school Halloween Night so we just decided to wear Halloween Shirts!

Nice Chatting!
Hope to hear back soon!

 

[ShannonR]

Good morning! Long time, no talk. I have been sooooo busy working, I haven't had a day off in months. I am a nurse, work two full time jobs and usually pick up an extra shift on my day off which makes for no days off at all ugh. With that being said this vacation cannot come fast enough for me!!

We had our first snow last night....yuck! My two older kids went outside in it late last night, and I just wanted to curl up on the couch with hot chocolate, a warm blanket, and watch the fireplace (I succeeded at one of the three.....the couch! DH has yet to fire up the ol' fireplace for this season)

DD Morgan and I struggled at making dining reservations yesterday, which we do each and every time ugh We end up changing them what seems like a gazillion times before we finally get what works for us! We will be staying at the Art of Animation prior to the cruise and can't wait to ring in the New Year at MGM (us old time Disney goers can't seem to getaway from calling it MGM.....sorry! Hollywood Studios just doesn't sound right to us) Usually it's DH and me that makes all the reservations and plans, but since DD is now 19 and can help me, DH has gladly relinquished that duty to her....he is now utilized for only the BIG stuff haha

We really need to get a meet and greet going. I know DD is so anxious to meet teens her own age. She loves to make new friends and hang out on the ship at the clubs and pools. I plan to spend this vacation with DH, DD8 and DGS 11months while the older three teens go do their thing and have fun!

We have already started to make packing lists and collect things to take in our ritual "Disney box" DD Morgan is making t-shirts for all off us. We bought plain white t shirts and will purchase iron on decals for her to create create create!! We always pack our suitcases about a month in advance (can anyone say OCD? ) This way we know what we have, and know what we have left to get.

I can't believe Halloween is next week! I have to work, but DH will take DD8 out trick or treating. DS16 will go out with his best friend and DD19 DSIL19 will take out the baby DGS for his first Halloween. Does anyone have any big plans for the spookiest day of the year? Next year we plan to be at WDW and DCL for Halloween.

If anyone has an idea of time and place for the meet and greet, let us know. Otherwise, Morgan would be glad to organize that, I'm sure. We alway enjoy that part of the DIS group......we are a very social and chatting bunch haha :lmao

Our biggest concern for this trip is the weather! We usually have pretty good weather on our WDW/DCL trips, but the Christmas cruise of 2010 ......FREEZING!! I was in the 40's for the majority of the trip. We were miserable and had a hard time enjoying ourselves ugh I really hope we don't run in to that again.

Shannon

 

[Finkelly]

Morgan: we are staying at Animation too-Cars Suite (for a few days) then moving to Animal Kingdom. We are vacation owners but my kids want to try Animation so I paid for 2 extra nights there. Were you able to get a reservation for "Be our Guest?" Franchesca made one for friday night but she doesn't know about the cruise on saturday so I have been trying to move to wed or thursday......but they are booked solid. Going to keep trying.

Shannon: I see you have taken several cruises in December, so except for the one cold one, how were the others? And when it was in the 40's did you mean on the islands as well? I am hoping worst case scenario if its cold on the ship, we will get a reprieve when we dock!

 

[coloradodumbo]

Hi everybody,

So I was thinking about the meet and greet place and time after Shannon brought it up. Having never been on the Fantasy before I called up shore-side concierge for suggestions. They suggested that if the weather is good that meeting up by Satellite falls, if the weather is bad they suggested one of the bars on deck 4 aft, such as the tube or O'Gills Pub. All ship services stop at 3:45 because of the 4:00 lifeboat drill. So I was thinking about having the meet and greet before the life boar drill so that way if people want to go to the sail away party at 4:30 they can. So if we want to have the meet and greet around 2:00-2:30 (ish) that might work for people. By then the staterooms will be available and if people want to drop their stuff off at their staterooms they can.

Let me know if anybody has any better thoughts. I will make sure to print out extra copies of the fish extender lists incase people forget to pack them.

 

[brackjr]

Hi everybody,

So I was thinking about the meet and greet place and time after Shannon brought it up. Having never been on the Fantasy before I called up shore-side concierge for suggestions. They suggested that if the weather is good that meeting up by Satellite falls, if the weather is bad they suggested one of the bars on deck 4 aft, such as the tube or O'Gills Pub. All ship services stop at 3:45 because of the 4:00 lifeboat drill. So I was thinking about having the meet and greet before the life boar drill so that way if people want to go to the sail away party at 4:30 they can. So if we want to have the meet and greet around 2:00-2:30 (ish) that might work for people. By then the staterooms will be available and if people want to drop their stuff off at their staterooms they can.

Let me know if anybody has any better thoughts. I will make sure to print out extra copies of the fish extender lists incase people forget to pack them.

2PM by the falls would be great. Plus it would be a great backdrop for the photo!

 

[brackjr]

Our biggest concern for this trip is the weather! We usually have pretty good weather on our WDW/DCL trips, but the Christmas cruise of 2010 ......FREEZING!! I was in the 40's for the majority of the trip. We were miserable and had a hard time enjoying ourselves ugh I really hope we don't run in to that again.

Shannon

Most of our cruises have been in December and January. Only once was it chilly for one day and that day was in Florida. The coldest cruise we took was on the Wonder in Alaska!
For me the weather will not be a factor even if it does get cool but really cold rarely happens here in Florida much less in the Caribbean.

 

[ShannonR]

Count us in for the meet and greet at 2:00pm! We have a terminal check in time for 11:30am so that will give us plenty of time to get on board, get settled in to our staterooms, get something to eat, then meet everyone at 2:00pm.

What is the status of the t-shirts...anyone know? Are we still planning on them or did we kind of give up on that notion? I only ask because it's getting closer and closer every day and before you know it, we will have run out of time.

Shannon

 

[ShannonR]

BTW.....forgot to add: Only once was our DCL/WDW vacation that cold and it was for the entire trip. Parks, cruise and all the islands ugh. The warmest it got was a low 70's in Grand Cayman, I believe. The entire WDW part of it was miserable in the 30's and 40's. there were some days that we had a hard time even going outside on to the deck and stayed inside the ship. we wore winter coats, hats and mittens for almost the entire vacation.....the pictures of our CARIBBEAN vacation are hilarious! It looks more like a vacation to the arctic circle hahaha

Shannon

 

[TiggerAllie]

We did the Western 2 years ago, this same week. It was rather cold at WDW (50s-- long sleeves, and jeans) which translated to about 60 at CC. However, it was in the 70s at Key West and 80s at Grand Cayman and Cozumel.

I don't know if we'll make it to the group meet, because my brother's civil ceremony will be at some point that afternoon, and with the big group, I don't know how complicated getting everyone on and in their rooms will be--we'll have to see. If there are other group events during the week though, let me know!

 

[coloradodumbo]

We did the Western 2 years ago, this same week. It was rather cold at WDW (50s-- long sleeves, and jeans) which translated to about 60 at CC. However, it was in the 70s at Key West and 80s at Grand Cayman and Cozumel.

I don't know if we'll make it to the group meet, because my brother's civil ceremony will be at some point that afternoon, and with the big group, I don't know how complicated getting everyone on and in their rooms will be--we'll have to see. If there are other group events during the week though, let me know!

Would having a second meet and greet that night work out for you do you think? We can always do the one at 2:00 and then have another little one in one of the bars for anybody who can't make the first one?!

 

[BriannasMommy]

Would having a second meet and greet that night work out for you do you think? We can always do the one at 2:00 and then have another little one in one of the bars for anybody who can't make the first one?!

That would be better for me. I would like to take the ship tour, which I think is at 2:00? Sunday is a sea day.... Why don't we all meet late morning after we've gotten settled in on Saturday. To me - that sounds more practical than on Saturday.

 

[MISSREBECCA76]

I tend to agree- while I would love to meet everyone I am not sure right when we get on the boat is going to be a reality for us! I like to get settled in, eat, make the spa appointments I had not been able to book yet, etc. etc. I would be all for one later Saturday night after our late dining or whenever on Sunday. Thoughts?

 

[coloradodumbo]

I tend to agree- while I would love to meet everyone I am not sure right when we get on the boat is going to be a reality for us! I like to get settled in, eat, make the spa appointments I had not been able to book yet, etc. etc. I would be all for one later Saturday night after our late dining or whenever on Sunday. Thoughts?

The second day may be better I forgot that at 3:00 they do the Spa Raffle and I am sure I am not the only one who will want to go to that! The question would be what time that second day if you look at the navigators posted it looks to be full of fun events mid-late morning including BINGO!

 

[MISSREBECCA76]

Spa Raffle? That sounds fun, do tell!!!

Are there any objections to meeting the first night around 9:30 or 10? I know the adult areas are popular but maybe for the first meet we could be in the family lounge so kids AND frozen drinks can both be included? LOL

 

[coloradodumbo]

Spa Raffle? That sounds fun, do tell!!!

Are there any objections to meeting the first night around 9:30 or 10? I know the adult areas are popular but maybe for the first meet we could be in the family lounge so kids AND frozen drinks can both be included? LOL

So on the first day of the cruise they have a Spa raffle. You gather in normally the gym section of the spa and they hand out tickets to everybody. It gives you a chance to meet the spa staff and see the spa. Then at the specified time they start calling numbers. They hand out free massages, facials, pedicures, etc. It can be very crowded so getting there early is a plus.

 

[TiggerAllie]

For us, I have no idea how things are going to go. The civil ceremony has to be before we leave, but I think we will all be able to board in the first groups, so they may be able to get it done in time. I know we have to go to the Spa Raffle, because last time someone in our group won a facial! Match your Mate is the first night (where I will try to convince my brother that they should go for the most recently married (ie 8 hours or something) couple) at 10:30. The actual ceremony is supposed to be on the first sea day, but we won't know when (or for sure) until Thanksgiving at the earliest.

There's just so much going on with the cruise wedding, I hope we can relax and get some vacation in! (Actually, that's why they are requesting to have the wedding done on the first sea day.)

This group is pretty big, right? (>20 staterooms) Maybe having a couple meet options (day and evening, Sunday) could be good, as long as everyone knows the when/where's.

 

[Jules14]

How do you find the itinerary? I am so new at all of this... also... Spa give away... yes please!!!