July 17, 2004 Magic (Western)

[cathie]

Hi Everyone! Jeanne , About the dinner attire for the guys..I guess everyone seems to feel differently about dressing up. Our boys 16 & almost 13 ,wore tropical shirts & khakis for dinner on the Wonder both times. We told them they need to wear ties on formal night on the 7 day cruise & they don't seem to mind. Being summer, they have some khaki shorts to wear too. I've read some posts where some people feel the kids need to wear suits & dress shoes & that's fine if they feel comfortable doing that. Everyone always looks great at dinner, I've never seen anyone dressed inappropriately. Have a great day ( maybe the docs will be in today!) 90 degrees today..can you believe it!! Cathie & The Gang

 

[keenercam]

Hi, everyone--
Wanted to chime in on the attire questions. Our game plan (assuming I can get a tux for DS) is that DH and DS will wear a tux on formal night and semi-formal night (so they don't have to pack suits). DD will wear her homecoming gown one night and a less formal evening gown on semi-formal night. I have a nice gowns/evening dress and may bring a second for Palo's; I have a long black skirt and a glittery top for semi-formal night. On other nights, I will wear black slacks or capris and different tops. I will talk DD into getting capris and matching top and a khaki or white skirt and a couple cute tops. I just bought DS a pair of navy dockers and a pair of khaki's and island type shirts for dinners. The rest of the time the kids will live in bathing suits and tee shirts or cover ups. I have to seize the opportunity to have them dress up so we can get some nice pix -- we used the formal one for Christmas cards a couple years ago and they were wonderful. Also heard Shutters now sells Christmas cards w/pix for about $1/card -- you order them on the ship from the pix they take and pick them up about 4 hours later. Sounds like it might be a good option.
I am printing out this thread today to give to the kids, so they will love emailing/PMing the other kids who are going this trip. On our last trip they all had a blast hanging out in the port terminal and then at the sailaway party.
Wishing our documents would get here. Getting a little .
It will be much worse after Special Olympics Summer Games this Friday and Saturday -- right now we are all focused on that (DH and I are committee chairs, on organizing committee and the kids are BIG-TIME volunteers). Once that is over, we will be counting the hours!

 

[MaryPSU]

Hi everyone,

I too will add my two cents on dinner attire for the guys ... while we don't plan to have them wear tuxes, they will be pretty dressed up. Definitely jackets and ties for the men and DS on formal night. I may let DS leave his jacket behind for semi-formal night, but he will certainly wear nice slacks, a dress shirt, and a tie.

On the other evenings, the guys plan to wear khakis, polo shirts, and island-type shirts. No plans for shorts in the dining rooms for dinner, except perhaps for DS on island attire night.

The ladies will also go the dress, long skirt, capris route - depending on the evening.

Almost down to five weeks!!!

Mary

 

[MommaluvsDis]

DH, DSs and DBF have all said no to both formal and semi-formal nights. They maintain that they are on vacation and this DOES NOT include dressing up! Are we going to be totally out of place!?!?!? Of course, we'll wear proper attire for dinning otherwise. That's as close to dressed as I can get them!

 

[mousemom218]

From what I recall, pretty much everyone in the dining rooms was fancy on those nights. If you are in the dining rooms, you may feel out of place. Of course you and DH can do Palo on those nights and let the kids fend for themselves!

 

[NeedsNEscape]

Thanks for the tips! I look forward to packing. My girlfriend and I discussed the thread and decided that what we needed was 'formal' shoes! We're going to Nordstroms when things calm down here in the DC suburbs. Yes, Cathie, it is really hot! 90+ plus really high humidity!!! I would have thought it was cooler in NH!!!

 

[MommaluvsDis]

We definitely would not eat in the restaurants on those nights! I know we'd feel out of place! We'll eat at the other buffet and sit outside and enjoy the ocean breeze!

 

[cathie]

Hey Mommaluvsdis..I sent you a PM Talk to you later Cathie

 

[MommaluvsDis]

For me, DBF means my Disney Best Friend, not BOY FRIEND! My DH wouldn't appreciate that!

 

[NeedsNEscape]

We got our docs on Saturday!
Hurray!!
Jeanne

 

[MommaluvsDis]

It makes it that much more exciting!!! I'm a black and white person, meaning I wanted my docs IN MY HAND!!! I CAN'T WAIT!!

 

[cathie]

We received our docs on Wed. 6-9-04...it's getting so close! Has everyone read the post about free soda on board now..it's about time!! Now we don't have bring our soda on board (maybe just a few of those mini-cans). Cathie & The Gang

 

[dznyacct]

If any of you are DU clients, have you received 2 complete sets of documents from DCL? We got our first set about 3 weeks ago. Of course I filled them out right away and had Matt's (my son Jake's friend who is joining us) mom sign the unaccompanied minor form and have it notarized. In the mail today I got another complete set of documents. I called DCL to ask why I got them and they told me that I would have to contact DU. This is the first time I have used a travel agent and I hate not being able to find out the answer to my question right away. I guess I'm a control freak. Just wondering if anyone else has had this happen. 32 days and counting!!!!

 

[MommaluvsDis]

I got 2 complete sets of docs but figured that it was because I added ground transfer at the last minute!

 

[cathie]

We used DU for our cruise this past February & received our docs about 1 1/2 wks. before our cruise. We were told that the docs are mailed directly from DCL when you book through DU. I'm not sure if that's still the way they do it. They should all be there soon! Cathie & The Gang

 

[keenercam]

Yep. That's right! Doing the document dance!!!
YIPPEE!!! They arrived yesterday. Should have seen us. We looked something like this

Or maybe this!

But, today, we are all walking around looking like this:

Looking forward to all of you!

Time is really flying, isn't it?

We are planning Jenn's sweet sixteen party for 8/21 and suddenly realized that we probably shouldn't even take the time to order custom invitations because she wanted to decorate them and send them before we go. So, instead we have worked the past two nights designing them, buying card stock, foil stickers and envelopes, etc. Goal is to get them all printed, "decorated", addressed, and in the mail by July 10. Of course, it would be nice if they were completely finished long before then so that we can start PACKING!! I still think she should have done a Disney theme, don't you?

I think the kids and I are pretty much done shopping and choosing stuff from our closets. Just ordered a tuxedo for Andy and getting it altered will be the next big project. The cost to buy it is roughly half the cost of renting. Can you believe that?

Have a great day, everyone!!!

 

[mousemom218]

We received a second set of docs yesterday! What's up with that? I had read some people who booked through a travel agent had received 2, but we booked through DCL. I'm only filling out one set though! Meanwhile, we are all so excited! DD and I can't resist shopping for cruise clothes. Looking forward to meeting all of you!

 

[keenercam]

Hey, Carole --
Our friends who are travelling with us also received a second set after receiving their first set about 3 weeks ago. Howard and I booked these connecting cabins directly through DCL so it is weird that they got two sets at all, but also that they did and we didn't.
Probably a good thing -- if I had an extra set, I'd probably walk around with them in my purse or pocket at all times.

BTW, our friends called DCL and were told to definitely use the most recent set and discard the first set. You might want to call and ask.

 

[MaryPSU]

Add us to the list of families who have two sets of documents!! We and the friends we're traveling with (but not my parents ... yet) received a second set yesterday. We too booked through DU.

Weird ... glad we didn't fill anything out yet. I guess we'll fill out the second set just to be safe. If anyone finds out why this is happening, let us know.

On the cruise wardrobe shopping front ... I think we're almost done. Yesterday I picked up some new sandals - great sales going on now - and the kids got new sneakers (not that they'll wear them much on the cruise but they needed them anyway). Now I need to lay everything out and figure out what to pack - probably ended up with MORE than we'll need!!

Just a few more odds and ends - like some underwater cameras - and we'll be all set! Almost down to four weeks!!

Mary

 

[keenercam]

Mary --
Have you decided on what brand of UW camera you will buy? I have heard that Fuji is better but have used Fuji and Kodak and like both.





Jenn just got contacts so she is thrilled about snorkeling and being able to see.

Andy goes to the ENT specialist 6/29 so hopefully he will be in good shape to swim -- hopefully they will give him custom fit earplugs to provide some protection.

On the packing front -- realized we will spend most of Monday (at sea, at pool and in cover up until dinner), Tuesday (Grand Cayman -- snorkeling and beach), Wednesday (beach and some shopping in coverup and sandals), Thursday (at sea, swimsuits & coverups) and Friday (castaway cay) in swimsuits, so I have narrowed the packing list for (day) shorts down to 5 or 6 pairs (instead of 11) and that is just because we will be arriving in Orlando on Thurs and not flying home until Sunday. Figure we won't be wearing shorts from dinner on, either.

Everyone should remember a little cardigan or sweatshirt if you are likely to get chilly in the theatre at night.

Re: new sneakers -- I realized that we never actually wore our sneakers on the last couple cruises -- we were in sandals or flip flops all day (in ports and on the ship) and then in nice sandals or heels (girls) or docksiders or dress shoes (boys) at night. I have a feeling Jenn is going to pack about 5 pairs of flip flops -- I swear she has them in every color!!! Thank God they take so little room! Debating whether to pack sneakers for the one day we will be in MK (Friday), but I think not.

You should see my packing list -- it actually now has the specific items (instead of x number of shirts it now says things like "blue cami, orange tropical print tank, blue/green hawaiin button-down")

Sick, I tell you, this kid is "sick"!!!