July 22, 2012 5 Night Bahamian Cruise

[TempusFugit]

Hello to all and welcome to the newest additions to the July Double-Dippers Group!

I'm glad you all decided to join us! Also glad you joined when you did. While it's alway great to have new faces I am very glad it was decided early on to close the FE list at 45 days out. DW and I have been brainstorming but have had to hold off getting the gifts together until we have a final count. We will be shipping all our FE gear ahead of us to our cabin so we don't have to cart it around. I'm sure others will be doing the same so we need to get our gifts together - the sooner the better. One thing to note is that on Thursday...only 45 more days to sail...ohhhh yeah...

Many, many thanks to Tami for keeping track of all this information...and the awesomely cool map to all the cabins!

As I've been previously elected to handle, I'll re-post the date-time-location of our first Meet-n-Greet later this week to refresh. At that time I also hope to have some options for a mid-week adults coctail party! It should be a great time to swap experiences, tips and remember that we are adults too!

We're really looking forward to meeting you all. We're getting closer!.

 

[kandekarleen]

Any updates will be great! I haven't been able to read all comments on this thread. With daily life and I run a daycare I seem to run out of daylight. LOL!

 

[TempusFugit]

On a different note, who here is thinking of running the Castaway 5k? Katie and I are looking forward to it. It'll be a good excuse to see the island early and sweat out some butter!

It's a run/walk so even if you're not a runner come on out and join us!

 

[kandekarleen]

My DH will be doing the 5K.

 

[TempusFugit]

That's great! I know there is another couple that's joining us here. I'm pokey but really enjoy a good run

 

[Wilderness Wendy]

Hello all, I just found this thread a few days ago and have spent a lot of time since then learning so much about cruising with Disney!

We are a family of four, me, DH, DD7 and DS5, taking our first Disney cruise. We took our first family vacation to WDW in 2009 and were quickly hooked. This year we decided to do something "different" though.

The FE sounds like a great way to add a little more magic to the voyage so I would love to participate. I do have a question, do we do gifts for every member of the family or just one gift for the cabin?

The CC 5K also sounds like fun. The only reason I took up running anyway was to have more excuses for Disney trips.

My husband and I will not turn down any kind of beverage sampling.

Looking forward to seeing many of you when we arrive at the port at 11:00!

Wendy

 

[Diana Schulz]

On a different note, who here is thinking of running the Castaway 5k? Katie and I are looking forward to it. It'll be a good excuse to see the island early and sweat out some butter!

It's a run/walk so even if you're not a runner come on out and join us!

Our family is planning to walk/run the CC5K. My husband and I plan to walk, our boys will be running. See you there!!

 

[TempusFugit]

Well alright! Looks like we'll have a good showing to "represent" It would be cool to meet up a little ahead of time for a group picture don't you think?

 

[courtnvm]

Hey everyone!!

I'm Liz, and my DH is Val. We just booked the cruise last night (can we say VGT deal??!!) and are super excited! We will be celebrating our 15th anniversary. We are DVC owners and will be at BLT from the 17th until the 21st and staying somewhere near the port the night of the 21st. It's our 2nd Disney cruise, as we went in January 2010, when kids sailed for free! We are so looking forward to having some relaxing times without the kids.

We won't be participating in the FE, but would be interested in the CC 5k for the 2nd day. We have already scheduled the jet skis on the 1st day at 10am. I'm sure by the 2nd day, I will need to run a little bit of the food off!! Oh yeah, and count us in for any meets, tastings, pictures, running, and all of the fun stuff! I'm sure we'll be closing down the clubs each night - gotta take advantage of not having the kiddos with us!!

 

[tamihong]

Wendy and Liz, Welcome aboard.

We will be meeting at 3:00 on Sunday in the "D Lounge", to quickly say hello and to settle any last minute changes to the FE. This is also the time that Jay (tempusfugit) will share the times of the adult tasting. So you won't want to miss that. D Lounge is on deck 3. See you there, if not before at the port.

Wendy, to answer your question regarding the FE, you may deliver whatever you want. We are asking that you deliver at least one gift to each cabin participating. Therefore, it is really up to your family. You can deliver one gift or you can deliver gifts to each person in the cabin. You can deliver something one time or two times or everyday if you wish. It is your decision. No one participating has shared what their plans are, so all of it will be a surprise. Do what you are comfortable with and have fun doing it.

We are asking that every cabin participating provide their names, (someone is doing something name specific). We also need to know your cabin number and I (Tami Hong) am asking for you to send me your email address, you can find mine listed on this forum. Once I have your other information, I will update our FE Deck Plan spreedsheet and sent it to you via email. If you perfer not to list your family information on the forum, you can email that to me. Please be aware though, that the information will be shared, on the spreadsheet, with the other participating families.

Again, welcome aboard.

 

[Gr00vyChc]

Hi Jay. For those who are doing the CC Run- do you guys get off the ship earlier than the rest of us? What time does it start? Just curious.

 

[wrongwayfeldman]

I've not been on here much, but I noticed that several of you are from the St Louis area. Our family lives in Columbia, MO, so we're not far from you. I also run a home day care like another family on the board, so it looks like many of us are going to have a lot more than a love of Disney in common!

We are counting down the days! Our June is packed to the brim, so it'll sail by, but I'm afraid July is going to just creeeeep along as we count down to that last day before we sail.

I'm looking forward to getting our final fish extender list so I can go shopping! Is there a plan if anyone wants to join at the last minute? Are some of you going to bring along a few extra goodies just in case, or are we pretty set at cutting off the sign ups this week?

Count us in for the meet and greet on the first day, any tasting events, and we may even be participating in the 5k.

 

[TempusFugit]

I believe the castaway 5k will be announced in the Navigators. It's usually a little different each time. There is no sigh-up ahead of time. All you need to do is meet the CMs running it at the appointed time and place to sign-up and get your bib. The group is then led off ship around 9-930 ish and the group are shown the course. I understand it's been better supported and organized than in the past so I am looking forward to this one.

The FE group has grown considerably lately, to the point that some are feeling a bit overwhelmed, both first-timers and veterans. After some conversations with Tami and a few others I believe the FE list should close, as previously agreed, after today. After that, if there are enough newcomers and someone is willing to take the responsibility to organize it, a second list can begin. It is unfair to expect Tami to shoulder the additional burden. She, like the rest of us, have preparations to make and a family to get organized.

However, this is not to say that any newcomers will not be welcome in the reindeer games. Quite the contrary. Everyone here, including those that join us right up to embarkation, are welcome -no encouraged- to participate in all the meet-n-greets, tastings, parties, games and any other social activities we can come up with! Only the origional FE list will be closed.

This system has been used on many previous DCL sailings with great success and is not meant to exclude only to provide relief to those that put so much time and effort into organizing the list and creating FE gifts. Of course a second list can be created if there is enough interest and a volunteer to organize it is found.

Sorry if that is a bit long-winded but hope it gives some clarity.

PS...anyone beside me smell the salt air...and martinis?...

 

[Gr00vyChc]

Thanks so much Tami for organizing the FE! I'm still finalizing mine and please yes, post those names so we can personalize some of the gifts. This will be our first FE and will be receiving my actual FE in the mail this week!
CC5K- let me see if I'm in the mood for it...I just might do it! Maybe on the 2nd day at CC?

I'm so excited! I find myself planning what outfits to put my family in for those family portraits. Luckily, my family obliges me.

For those who have been to Nassau before, is it easy and safe to get a legitimate taxi ride to Atlantis?

 

[LBollengier]

GETTING More Excited every day!!

Thanks to Tami and Tempus for all their work!!! Please send me the FE list when you are done with it, I am ready to start the last gifts!!



After over 10 years with my email... Someone hacked in and really messed with me...

ANYWAY - Please everyone send all correspondence to my family at:

LLBollengier@aol.com
It has 2 "L"s in front of our last name instead of one!!


AND -->>> Please let me know if any of you are Digital Scrapbookers... I have some cool things I'm making that I would love to share!!

 

[LBollengier]

Late seating is at 8pm right? I think the last time I called DCL that was the time given to me. The early show is at 615pm. We usually snack throughout the day , so we make sure that DD isn't starving that late. We also enjoyed late seating on our last Disney cruise. I like to relax and take a breather not to mention a nice long enough shower after coming back on port days.

We have early seating, our clocks more run toward the late seating and I totally agree about the atmosphere but NOBODY in my family would go to the shows with me!! I went 2 DCL cruises with no SHOWS!!! So now MOM (me!!) makes all the Bollengier family cruisers go to early dinner - - - then at least DH goes to the show with me! I love the shows and feel like it is part of what we are paying for...

 

[Ceisen]

Wow I haven't been on in a while. Welcome to all the new families
We are getting excited! We just received our fish extender in the mail this week
My husband and I hope to and plan on running the 5k. I guess it might depend upon the time. One of the days we have a glass bottom boat ride at 9:30 I think but that may conflict with the time of the run. Happy to just play things by ear and not plan too much ( if possible with 2 little ones)

 

[Tgrgrl]

Hey Everyone,
I haven't been on for a while b/c of life getting in the way of my vacation planning. Blah! Anyway, a few questions. We've booked Palo for Thursday night, the last dinner night. Is it rude to not dine in the regular rotation the last night to say goodbye to your servers? I ask b/c there was plenty of dining times available for Palo that night. Has anyone done the Blue lagoon Dolphin experience in Nassau? I signed just me and my 4 year old to go but now I'm anxious about the catamaran ride to and fro and wonder if I should bring her life jacket or will they be provided? I know it's vacation and I should relax but hey, I'm a Mom 24/7! Finally, should I have received the FE cabin map by now or will it be sent after tomorrow?

Thanks and Disney dreams!

 

[Gr00vyChc]

How do get a countdown ticker? Sooooooo excited!

 

[courtnvm]

Gr00vyChc - we've been to Nassau, but it was in 2010 and we decided to stay close to the ship. There are taxi drivers everywhere right as you get off the ship, and if you make eye contact, they will ask if you need a ride to wherever you are going. We just walked around town, saw the straw market, went to Tortuga Rum, and grabbed some Starbucks. Then we went back to the ship. My DH was really nervous because we traveled right after a bunch of horrible robberies. This time around, we are doing the Atlantis tour, but doing it through Disney. I'm not nervous about being left behind, but haven't really had a lot of time to do planning, so I went ahead and signed up for that. I want to get off the boat for longer than and hour this time around.

At some point, will there be some sort of list of things that are being planned?