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

[smeecanada]

Hello, All

We've just switch our Tortola cruise over to this one. Our merry band of DH, myself, DS14 and DD13 will be joining in on the fun. This will be our 3rd Disney Cruise in 3 years - yes we're addicted to the Mouse.

Would love to join in on the FE fun - we did it on the REPO - so much fun getting goodies each day.

The ship doesn't look too full - lots of CAT's still available. I was able to switch over our ressie for $500 less than what we booked last August for the same CAT, although different Eastern ports.

 

[Vanvmom]

What are the odds of having two Wendys? I saw the note on the FE exchange, and I'm talking to our group to see who wants to do it (we have 2 cabins & are traveling with 2 other families-one of which also has 2 cabins). Not sure if it would too much organization for all of us to do. The last cruise we did "tag" with gifts & it was hard to remember who we had tagged and who we hadn't.

 

[Khazid]

What are the odds of having two Wendys? I saw the note on the FE exchange, and I'm talking to our group to see who wants to do it (we have 2 cabins & are traveling with 2 other families-one of which also has 2 cabins). Not sure if it would too much organization for all of us to do. The last cruise we did "tag" with gifts & it was hard to remember who we had tagged and who we hadn't.

Considering our DIS group on this cruise seems to be pretty small I hadn't planned on running the FE Exchange as a Tag system.

My thoughts were to get it to ~10-15 staterooms to keep the costs down and then everyone gets each stateroom 1 set of gifts.

Right now I'm considering having the delivery times be from day 2 thru the end of day 6. I'm guessing that will have little gifts being dropped once every other afternoon/evening at the utmost.

Who knows...it may grow to big and we decide to split it into two groups

Any way we do it, I can handle the logistics of planning it. My real life job is doing something very similar....Actually....I need to go design the spreadsheet for tracking all the families/staterooms....

Back to work for me!!

 

[smeecanada]

Yes, I guess we have two Wendy's. Not a very common name. How many people are involved in the group so far? There doesn't seem to be many people on the Disboards for this cruise.

I'm game for FE's. After 100+ on the REPO this group will be really easy to distribute. Already have an idea for a FE gift - just need to do it.

Starting to look into excursions. Has anyone been to St. Maarten or St. Thomas before? Any recommendations?

I read somewhere that we don't have to do the early morning immigration at St. Thomas anymore. Thank goodness.

 

[smeecanada]

double post somehow.......

 

[Khazid]

How many people are involved in the group so far?

Confirmed I have Khazid (1 stateroom), StewieL(2 staterooms). Vanvmom is checking with her group, but it could bring up to 5 staterooms into the group. If I count you, and I definitely hope to be able too, we'd have anywhere from 4-8 staterooms. That should be very dooable

Starting to look into excursions. Has anyone been to St. Maarten or St. Thomas before? Any recommendations?

This will be my first trip to this part of the world. I am really looking at the Sea Trek Helmet dive in St. Thomas, from what I've read here on the boards it is a good time. Other than that, I'm a complete newb. In St. Maarten the DW and I will be celebrating the anniversary, so she'll be getting spa treatments. I plan to go shopping at the port.

Now....what did I do with my copy of excel, I really do need to build that spreadsheet to track our FE group....

 

[Vanvmom]

Sounds simpler than the tag on our last cruise. We had a HUGE disgroup, inc. 2 wedding/vow renewals as well as a family in the Walt Suite. We were all over the ship too. To add to the confusion, our family cabins were switched the night before the cruise to rooms down the hall due to maintenance needs. So we had to notify everyone at our dis-meet of the change. I'll get back to all of you soon about it. For now... off to school I go!

 

[StewieL]

Hello All,

Well, traking a break from packing. Just back from a cruise on (OH no) another cruise line....and now all the talk is about July 4th Magic Cruise. Have been to St Maarten once and St Thomas many times...in fact...honeymooned there many years ago.

DD #2 is eating, sleeping and dreming mouse! Her son (DGS) age 9 months now, is being coached every day on something "mouse". DD #1 has 2 who are veterans...this will be therir 3rd Disney cruise....and all they want to know is about the FE exchange.

Last cruise we bought gifts for all kids under 18, or 19 and kept the gifts small and under $5. If we have only a handful of participants, then we can expand this, and I will leve this up to the group. We are game for anything here...this was really lots of fun for all.

BTW...anybody else planning to get "dressed up" Pirate night. DD #1 makes sure we dress the part....so I will bring my costume again. Lots of fun.

St Thomas is great, for those who have never been. There is a "sea center" for those who love snorkling and diving, and I will check out the name and everything and get you the information. I will probably dive, and one or two others in our group will likely do that (4 of us are divers). Also, shopping in St Thomas is wonderful....can't find cheaper prices in the Caribbean.

St Maarten is lovely, and we will start looking at excursions soon. We visited dutch side last time, and may want to go to the French side this trip.

Things we should also discuss: Meet on sail day, July 4th. We should set a time and place to meet and let kids and us say hello. This is always great. Also, get together on Castaway Cay....

Just things to think about.

Oh well...back to packing up this house. We've lived here 28 years! Just sold ALL of our furniture. What are we thinking? Maybe we should live on a cruise ship.

Bye for now

Stewart

 

[dcpatty]

and I can't wait

It's me, my DH, DD 6yrs old, and newest addition, our DS who will turn 9 months the day before we sail.

This is our second DCL cruise- did a 4 day on the Wonder in 07- loved it!

We are also celebrating our anniversary while on board.

Time to start thinking about what trips to take and when to book Palo- I was going to plan it for our anniversary, but that's piracte night, so I don't think I want to miss that.

I'm also in for the FE exchange- didn't do one for the last cruise.

Look forward to sharing the journey!
April

 

[smeecanada]

and I can't wait

It's me, my DH, DD 6yrs old, and newest addition, our DS who will turn 9 months the day before we sail.

This is our second DCL cruise- did a 4 day on the Wonder in 07- loved it!

Welcome aboard, April. The more the merrier.

We also did a 4 day Wonder in 07 - it started this crazy DCL addiction .

I've started researching about the Ports for excursion info. Haven't gotten too far though.

 

[Khazid]

I'm also in for the FE exchange- didn't do one for the last cruise.

WOOT!! Glad to see another DIS'r on the cruise, and coming to join the fun of the FE.

Please see post #20 and get signed up.

BTW...for the others still wanting to do the FE there is still plenty of space and I have designed the excel sheet to track all the info from the participants. I'll be looking to send out an update this week and will do so every couple of weeks, or when information changes for planning purposes. Last day to sign up is 5/1!

 

[Khazid]

Well...it all became a reality today. Final payment was made, and the DW and I are now fully booked.

 

[Vanvmom]

Wow! You are really on top of things! We make our final payment next month. We have our airfare and rental car booked though, so I guess part of me is organized.

Total confirmed from our group is my family (2 cabins), a friend (fellow DISer, just not posting yet) and her family (one cabin), and a newbie to DCL friend with her family (2 cabins). All the kids are boys - teens down to preschool ages. We're celebrating our 20th anniversary on the cruise, plus one of our sons will have just had a birthday, and the other has one a week after the cruise, so my family will just be celebrating all week long!!!

Yes, we do dress up for pirate night.

Well, need to get back to work and exercise! I still have to finish paying for this cruise, and I have to reach my weight loss goal in the mean time.

 

[dcpatty]

We purchased plane tickets yesterday A great deal from BWI to orlando on Southwest- arriving the 3rd. The only issue is our plane home doesn't leave until 7pm, so now I need to decide what to do during the day- any suggestions?

Another ?- formal night for the infant set- if the baby was a girl I'd have no problem- but- baby boys are hard. I bought a little sailor outfit, but don't know if it's dressy enough- I want him to fit in with the rest of us. What have you done/seen? I'll also post this on the main forum later.

Getting closer- hope all is well
APril

 

[Khazid]

Wow! You are really on top of things! We make our final payment next month. We have our airfare and rental car booked though, so I guess part of me is organized.

I'm a complete type A personality. I have an excel spreadsheet with the entire trip plan for our two week trip (we'll be at WDW the week before the cruise). I have the rental car planned, limo to and from airport in LA, airfaire, targetted ADR's to call on (dates coming soon), targetted dates for Palo, targetted times for spa stuff and excursions all laid out. Had to pay off the trip as 3/21 is the 105 day date for making ressies for our cabin (we booked the REAS pkg). HA...I don't plan...not even a little...nope...

Total confirmed from our group is my family (2 cabins), a friend (fellow DISer, just not posting yet) and her family (one cabin), and a newbie to DCL friend with her family (2 cabins). All the kids are boys - teens down to preschool ages. We're celebrating our 20th anniversary on the cruise, plus one of our sons will have just had a birthday, and the other has one a week after the cruise, so my family will just be celebrating all week long!!!

Wow...now that is a lot of celebrating!

Yes, we do dress up for pirate night.

Well, need to get back to work and exercise! I still have to finish paying for this cruise, and I have to reach my weight loss goal in the mean time.

I'm still torn on if I'll ship some costumes for the DW and I to the ship. I'd like to dress up, but pirate night is the night we are celebrating our anniversary, so I'm not sure I want to rush back to the room after Palo to change into costumes for the party. Maybe I'll let the DW make that call...LOL

Good luck on your weight loss plan!!

 

[Khazid]

We purchased plane tickets yesterday A great deal from BWI to orlando on Southwest- arriving the 3rd. The only issue is our plane home doesn't leave until 7pm, so now I need to decide what to do during the day- any suggestions?

We depart late as well heading back to LAX on the 11th. My plan was to just take our time getting off the ship, then once arriving back at MCO just cruise the shops pretty slowly before going through Security. Security is the worst there, I've had 2+ hour waits just to get through before. Bring something for the little ones to do while you wait. I have a feeling that weekend in July will be very busy. Once through secruity, just more shops to take up time before boarding.

Another ?- formal night for the infant set- if the baby was a girl I'd have no problem- but- baby boys are hard. I bought a little sailor outfit, but don't know if it's dressy enough- I want him to fit in with the rest of us. What have you done/seen? I'll also post this on the main forum later.

Can't say I have a good suggestion for this one. I'm sure that the DS will be just fine in the sailor suit. For infants, they are cute no matter what you do, heck...you could take him with just a fig leaf and he'd be formal!! LOL Sounds like you have it well planned though

 

[StewieL]

Hi everyone,

Khazid (Brandon) is on top of it all. He has a spread sheet with cabins and occupants, as well as ages, for those participating in the FE exchange.

OK everyone....if you haven't PM's Khazid please do. Let's get a great big group for this exchange....and make it a blast for the kids as well as us adults.....

Glad to see there are others who bring their Pirate costumes....My DW thinks I'm nuts but we are preparing to sell our home and in packing I nearly panicked because I couldn't find the costume. Found it and it is safe and ready to go.

Let's increase the chatter here. Anyone looking at excursions????

Stewart

 

[Khazid]

Let's increase the chatter here. Anyone looking at excursions????

Not going to do much in St. Maarten, just a little shopping. St. Thomas going to do the Sea Trek Helmet dive at Coral World. I am a big fan of anything under water, and this is the biggest thing I could convince the DW to do with me. If I could get myself motivated enough, I'd get my open water PADI cert and do a dive, but perhaps next trip

On CC while the DW is getting her cabana massage I'm going to go do the Snorkling Excursion trip and we're considering wrapping the day up there with a parasailing trip.

So excited though...105 days is 3/21, so all those excursions can get booked with ressies

 

[smeecanada]

Let's increase the chatter here. Anyone looking at excursions????

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?

Looking at possibly doing Coral World with Coki Beach next door and/or Paradise Point in St. Thomas.

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

Off to Washington for a few days.

Oh - did anyone else get their cruise planning kit?

 

[Khazid]

Booked all my ressies today and got all the time slots I wanted for Palo (dinner/brunch), excursions, spa etc.

I only hope my ADR's for WDW the week before the cruise go as smoothly as this.

Now time to do all the on-line check-in docs....wow...it won't be long before we are on the Magic sailing the seas....