July 4 2009....Who'se going?

[Khazid]

We've booked Joyce Prince http://www.joyceprince.com/index.htm for a tour of St. Martin. She can accomodate up to 12 people. Anyone want to join us?

So would join you if that wasn't the day my DW and I are celebrating our anniversary. She's going to be in the spa most of the day, and I'll shop and then kick it by the pool

Has anyone done the Kayak Eco Tour at CC? DD and I are considering that.

Sadly no, when I'm at CC it is all about the snorkeling

Oh - did anyone else get their cruise planning kit?

Not yet, we've been on DCL before, so I already pretty much know what I wanted to do.

 

[Meemous]

Hello all, this will be our first cruise on Disney. We are SO excited. My husband and I were born in Florida and were consummate WDW visitors with our children, at least 3 times a year. We always wanted to go ona Disney Cruise! My husband passed away of cancer in late 2007 and we are doing this to honor his memory. He was a TOTAL Disney freak! It will be me, my DS age 23, DD age 13, DS age 11 and DD age 9.

If any of you have ANY tips or advice, when to make reservations for anything what we should see when we are on the islands, what the kids might like, I'd truly appreciate it! We are driving down from Atlanta and cannot wait! We are also in the process of relocating to the New Orleans area only a week after we return from the cruise so our lives are very full and hectic!

See you on the 4th!

~Lorrie

 

[Khazid]

Hello all, this will be our first cruise on Disney. We are SO excited. My husband and I were born in Florida and were consummate WDW visitors with our children, at least 3 times a year. We always wanted to go ona Disney Cruise! My husband passed away of cancer in late 2007 and we are doing this to honor his memory. He was a TOTAL Disney freak! It will be me, my DS age 23, DD age 13, DS age 11 and DD age 9.

If any of you have ANY tips or advice, when to make reservations for anything what we should see when we are on the islands, what the kids might like, I'd truly appreciate it! We are driving down from Atlanta and cannot wait! We are also in the process of relocating to the New Orleans area only a week after we return from the cruise so our lives are very full and hectic!

See you on the 4th!

~Lorrie

Welcome!! Always happy to see another DIS'r that will be joining us on the 4th-11th.

I am sorry for your loss and find it very commendable that you are celebrating his memory by taking the family on the cruise he always wanted to do.

The best tips and advice I have for you is to first check out the DCL FAQ that was assembled here on the boards. It is FULL of a lot of good information including information on the various excursions that you will be able to look at in the ports of call.

If you are interested in doing the Fish Extender (FE) Gift Exchange, there are some links to expliantions in the FAQ, check out post#20 in this thread. It has the instructions for how to join our group on this cruise.

Lastly, just lurk the threads in the main Cruise forums and ask questions! There are a lot of posters that have knowledge to share, luckily they all have a lot of patience too, so don't worry if the question has been asked before. Ask away! Of course, you can always ask here as well. I normally lurk through all the boards 2-3 times a day that I follow. I know there are others in our group that lurk at least once a day.

Enjoy!!

 

[Meemous]

Thank you for the information, and kind welcome.

I have been reading the DIS forums ALL day! TONS of valuable information.

First Question: Do we absolutely, positively HAVE to have passports to travel or will birth certificates suffice? I'm getting conflicting reports on that.

Thanks,

~Lorrie

 

[Khazid]

Thank you for the information, and kind welcome.

Your

I have been reading the DIS forums ALL day! TONS of valuable information.

Sweet...grab a good seat as the threads scroll very quickly in some of the forums. Take notes

First Question: Do we absolutely, positively HAVE to have passports to travel or will birth certificates suffice? I'm getting conflicting reports on that.

Taken directly from the DCL website:
United States Citizens
All Guests claiming United States citizenship, including children, must present one of the following documents as proof of citizenship.

• A valid, unexpired United States Passport
• Original state-issued birth certificate and a photo ID issued by a local, state or federal government agency for Guests 18 and older
• Original certificate of naturalization and a photo ID issued by a local, state or federal government agency for Guests 18 and older
• Original certificate of citizenship and a photo ID issued by a local, state or federal government agency for Guests 18 and older
• Original consular report of birth abroad of United States citizen and a photo ID issued by a local, state or federal government agency for Guests 18 and older
• A valid, unexpired state issued Enhanced Drivers License (where available)

For a complete list of travel documents that comply with the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative, please visit www.state.gov.

Copies of any of the above documents are not acceptable.

Now...You can travel with birth certs (originals only), but I am a big proponent of having passports. The benefits of having them far outweigh the expense of getting them, and, there is still time to get them for all involved.

My biggest reason for a passport is on the extremely rare chance you get stuck in a port and miss the ship and have to travel to catch up, and possibly, travel home from that location. You CANNOT fly into the US w/o having a valid passport.

I've had nightmares of not being able to get home w/o my passport. I don't travel w/o it.

 

[Khazid]

Hi All!! Krazy Khazid here...FE Organizer for our trip.

Last night I sent out the most recent update to the participants (currently 6 staterooms from 4 DIS families). StewieL sent me an e-mail last night suggesting that I post some general guidelines for how to handle the exchange itself. I thought this was a FABULOUS idea.

So, based upon some research I've been doing I am going to post up the following for discussion amungst the group. The reason I'm doing it here instead of via PM's or E-mails is that our discussion should hopefully benefit those that are on the fence of joining, or those that come to join last minute.

Speaking of...There is still time!! 5/1/09 is the deadline to join the FE Group. See Post#20 of this thread for details on how to join up....Now...on to the guidelines open for suggestion:

Drop Off Dates: All gifts should be distributed from Day 1 (7/4) through midnight of Day 6 (7/9). Day 6 is the cuttoff to ensure families will have enough time to get packed up after Castaway Cay on Day 7.
There will be no set delivery "time" so that the surprise of finding a gift in the FE can be anticipated and enjoyed by all.

Exchange Process: The idea of this is that everyone will have FUN both in the giving and receiving of the gifts. To assist in that, please use the following guidelines for distributing the FE Gifts to the group:

• Focus should be on age appropriate gifts for all those under 18 years old. Once those are covered, if you feel like doing more you can, but we want the children to be thought of first.
• Due to the size of the group, each participating stateroom should make a minimum of one delivery to all the other participating staterooms.
• If the group gets too large, participants will be paired up in smaller groups to lessen the burden.
• Spend only what you feel comfortable spending!! The exchange is meant to be fun and not a financial burden. Great resources for inexpensive gifts have mentioned Dollar Stores, orientaltrading.com, etc.
• Gift ideas can be found in several threads on the main forums. Sticker packets, pens, pencils, patches, etc. are perfect items to be given out. Home made gifts have also been mentioned and seem to be a big hit (one poseter was raving about her home made bookmark that she still uses).

As an example, the DW and I have spent about $35-50 on the exchange and we are going to be doing some Home Made items as well.

Thoughts?

 

[StewieL]

Khazid,

Thanks for all the work you have done here.

Whew......we finally got our house repainted, all our funiture sold, and had the house "staged" for sale.....and then remembered to pay the final payment for this cruise....Yipeee....we are all paid up and ready to go.

For all those NOT on the FE exchange.....please consider joining us. This is just so much fun for the kids. We will start shopping now for all the stuff we plan to put in the FE's.

Also....Hope there are going to be a few other Pirates on this ship.....I will be wearing my costume on Pirate night, and urge the rest to join me.

Would love to hear about excursions.....anyone else interested in Coral World????

Stewart

 

[Vanvmom]

Things have been crazy around my house - DH has been in China for the past month (for work). Two kids doing track & field with different schools, so track meets all over the place. 3 kids and myself doing TKD - I have testing this week. Plus spring break community service projects... I'm only on my computer this morning because I just paid my bills online & snuck over to check the tread.

Our cruise is paid up & our palo brunch ressies have been made. I have not had a chance to think about the excursions yet though. Maybe this next week....

 

[smeecanada]

Hi, All

Our household is counting the days. So, ready for the cruise. We'll be joining in on the FE's just haven't sent details to Khazid yet.

There is a pin code floating around for the kids to sail free - still hoping to be lucky and receive one, so haven't paid in full yet.

As far as excursions - we are considering Coral World - Conki Beach - Paradise Point Tram in St. Thomas. We've booked Joyce Prince in St. Maarten for a tour - if anyone else is interested in joining us.http://www.joyceprince.com/index.htm She comes highly recommended on both the Disboards and CruiseCritic. She can take up to 12 passengers.

Happy Easter everyone - we've got 4 days off up here - so hoping to work in the garden a bit and just plain relax. DS is off on a band trip to Oregon for a week - so we're short one kid - it's quiet around here.

 

[Khazid]

Khazid,

Thanks for all the work you have done here.

You are more than welcome! I am so looking forward to the exchange, you all have no idea.

I will be wearing my costume on Pirate night, and urge the rest to join me.

The DW and I will both be in costume that night. We are having dinner at Palo in honor of our anniversary (6:30 seating) and then it is right back to the room to change in time for the on deck party. For those needing cheap costumes, we got 2 swords and 2 adult costumes for just about $65 (free shipping with online coupon) at anytimecostumes.com.

anyone else interested in Coral World????

The DW and I are doing the Sea Trek Helmet dive there. It looks like sooooo much fun, and I'm a total water nut.

Our cruise is paid up & our palo brunch ressies have been made.

WOOT!! It seems so much more real when tha final payment goes in, doesn't it? When are your Paolo brunch ressies? The DW and I have a date there as well, perhaps we'll meet up.

 

[Vanvmom]

All 6 of the adults in our cruise party are doing the Palo brunch at 10:30 on the 6th & are looking forward to it!!!

 

[smeecanada]

Well, bit the bullet and paid the cruise in full today. Couldn't wait for the Kids sail free Pin code fairy any longer.

Also, booked our flight from Seattle to Orlando. Still have to figure out how we are getting Seattle, but have a few options for that. Man, you really need to watch things with airfare. I booked a direct flight thru Delta which is operated by Alaska. If I had booked it thru Alaska - it would have cost us about $1100USD more. Exact same flight/plane etc - just different Airline.

Don't think we're going to book Palo this round. I just want to get on the ship and relax.

Now, to wait and see if the upgrade fairy visits any of us.

Khazid, I'll PM you in the next couple of days with FE info.

 

[Khazid]

All 6 of the adults in our cruise party are doing the Palo brunch at 10:30 on the 6th & are looking forward to it!!!

Ours are on the 9th, so won't be seeing you at that time, but I'm sure we'll meet sometime while afloat!

Khazid, I'll PM you in the next couple of days with FE info.

Sweet, another family to add to the exchange. I look forward to hearing from you.

Glad to hear you got your flight.

 

[Vanvmom]

Well, as only our 8 year old son is still excited about FE gift exchanges, I think we've decided to pass this time - his brothers are just excited about meeting new people & don't want to think about delivering gifts.

Speaking of that... my 15 year old DS was wondering if there are any other teens traveling in our DIS group. We will also have one 14 year old & two 13 year old boys traveling with us-all very mild mannered, polite, & rule abiding young guys.

We've also decided to go to Epcot on the 3rd - the one WDW park we've never been to. We're arriving in Orlando on the 2nd, doing Epcot the 3rd, then heading over to Cape Canaveral/Cocoa Beach to stay there the night before the cruise. Almost everything is booked now... time to think about possible excursions.

 

[smeecanada]

Well, as only our 8 year old son is still excited about FE gift exchanges, I think we've decided to pass this time - his brothers are just excited about meeting new people & don't want to think about delivering gifts.

Speaking of that... my 15 year old DS was wondering if there are any other teens traveling in our DIS group. We will also have one 14 year old & two 13 year old boys traveling with us-all very mild mannered, polite, & rule abiding young guys.

We've also decided to go to Epcot on the 3rd - the one WDW park we've never been to. We're arriving in Orlando on the 2nd, doing Epcot the 3rd, then heading over to Cape Canaveral/Cocoa Beach to stay there the night before the cruise. Almost everything is booked now... time to think about possible excursions.

Hi, Wendy from another Wendy

Our son is 14 - 15 in October. He is quiet, into video games and such. We're arriving in Orlando on the 30th. Haven't figured out where we are staying in Orlando yet, but have Country Inn and Suites booked for the night before the cruise. We're doing Seaworld and Aquatica before the cruise.

 

[dcpatty]

Well I paid the balance yesterday-
We debated up to the last minute because we're buying a house in May, but I figured we would need a vacation after moving twice in 7 months- I can rationalize any vacation

Also- just booked the HYatt at MCO on hotwire for less than $85 with fees for July 3rd. Can't beat the location and price!

I'm really getting excited- the time will fly by now!

April

 

[Vanvmom]

I think we've decided on Doubletree Suites at WDW for our Epcot day, then off to Residence Inn for the night before the cruise (LOVE that hotel), and lastly we'll be at the Hyatt MCO the day we get off the ship. We're maximizing our hotel points and staying for free at each hotel except the Residence Inn. I always knew that all my DH's traveling for work would pay off for us in the long run.

Wendy, your son sounds like my middle son who will have just turned 13 prior to our cruise. He'll be entering his 2nd year of middle school in the fall and is almost as tall as my DH - very mature and analytically minded, loves his Nintendo DS and ipod games. My oldest son is Mr. Social - he's constantly chatting on-line with his group of friends & is the primary reason we have unlimited texting on our cell phone plan. He's one of 3 guys out of a large group of friends (mostly girls), and they all love to hang out at our house and make s'mores, swim, and talk while pretending to be watching movies. Parenting teens can be a real blast at times.

 

[GettinReadyforDisney]

We are Disney fanatics, but have never been on a cruise, much less a Disney cruise. We are so excited (well, that it is . . DH and I are, because we're still keeping this a secret from the kids)! I've been lurking on these boards for the past month or so gathering info to help us make our final decision.

We booked this 4th of July cruise just two days ago and we can't wait!!

Our crew:
ME
DH
DS 12
DD 8

I can see from reviewing the threads that there are several of you who have kids in the same gender and age group as mine, which is great.

P.S.: I'll talk to DH about FE. I think even DS (12), who is such a tween!, will get into it (no doubt that DD 8 will love it)

 

[smeecanada]

We booked this 4th of July cruise just two days ago and we can't wait!!

Our crew:
ME
DH
DS 12
DD 8

Welcome aboard. You are going to have a great time. Be prepared for an addiction. If you've got an silly questions, just ask away - we've all been in that spot at one time.

 

[GettinReadyforDisney]

Hello all, this will be our first cruise on Disney. We are SO excited. My husband and I were born in Florida and were consummate WDW visitors with our children, at least 3 times a year. We always wanted to go ona Disney Cruise! My husband passed away of cancer in late 2007 and we are doing this to honor his memory. He was a TOTAL Disney freak! It will be me, my DS age 23, DD age 13, DS age 11 and DD age 9.

If any of you have ANY tips or advice, when to make reservations for anything what we should see when we are on the islands, what the kids might like, I'd truly appreciate it! We are driving down from Atlanta and cannot wait! We are also in the process of relocating to the New Orleans area only a week after we return from the cruise so our lives are very full and hectic!

See you on the 4th!

~Lorrie

Meemouse, FIRST . . . I am so sorry for your loss. I have a good friend who lost her husband very suddenly, just under a year ago, and I know how tough it has been for her. SECOND . . . congrats for taking this cruise in his memory. THIRD . . . You have DS11 and DD 9 and I have DS 12 and DD 8 so they might all get along quite well; we'll have to try to meet. THIRD . .. where in "the New Orleans area" are you relocating, because we live just north of New Orleans in Mandeville.

P.S: I am just realizing that my countdown nametag is HUGE! I'll have to fix that!