July 9th 2005 - West Coast Cruise.

[GrumpyMom1]

Hi Lori,

I'm so glad you were able to book with Randi too. I'm really looking forward to it.

As far as the restaurants go, I guess I'm not the best person to give advice there. We don't eat out much (we're trying to save for a cruise ) . I haven't been to Peohe's but I'm sure it's great. As far as Mexican food, I would suggest one of the restaraunts in Old Town - Old Town Mexican Cafe or Casa de Bandini.

The kids will love the zoo. Be sure to visit the baby Panda!

If I think of anything else, I'll send you a PM.

 

[Soccermom-Cheri]

Just heard from DCL that our wait list has come through! So we will be joining you all. It's me, H, DS (12 then) and DS (7 then). We're in San Diego and it's great to see so many "locals" going. This is our 3rd cruise. Haven't told the kids yet

After the kids find out, they always love to start emailing the other kids who are going so they have instant friends when they get on board.

Cheri

 

[jel0511]

Welcome Cheri!!! What category room are you booked in. I'm also a late joiner to this cruise, and all we could get is a category6 guarantee.

 

[soccerdad-Chris]

Welcome Cheri!!! What category room are you booked in. I'm also a late joiner to this cruise, and all we could get is a category6 guarantee.

Hi Lori!!

As you can probably tell from my soccerDad logon, I'm Cheri's husband, and am joining this thread as well.

When we woke up this morning, we had no idea that we would be cruising in July. We are booked on the October 29th (Halloween) cruise out of Port Canaveral (our 3rd DCL cruise), but this morning we got a message that our wait-listing (we completely forgot about it) came through for the West Coast cruise, and we needed to respond by 7PM tonight. When she got the message, Cheri called me at work and asked if we should do the July west coast cruise instead of the Halloween one. It proved too difficult to choose between the two, so we're going to bite the bullet and do both (the DD and DS don't know about either at this point).

Answering your question about room categories, we're in 8102, which is a category 3 at the back of the ship. It has a fabulous private deck (which will translate into multiple fabulous deck parties--stay tuned for details and invitations!!).

We look forward to corresponding with and meeting a bunch of fun people on this board in advance of the cruise. Our experience is that this board makes a huge positive difference on the relationships that develop before, during, and after the cruise.

Chris

 

[soccerdad-Chris]

Hi, Patty from Portland (Oregon) here again. I found our cabin reservations and we are on Deck 7, Rm. 7512 which is starboard, fore. I want to make my reservations for DL. Any suggestions on which airport to fly in and out of? We plan on going to DL July 5 through July 9. We will probably spend and extra night in L.A. when we return from the cruise. I'm thinking either Burbank, or Orange County airport. The kids are now in on the cruise details. They are getting excited, but have no concept of how long they have to wait. Patty

Hi Patty--

What part of Portland are you from? Though we now live in the San Diego area, we lived in West Portland (Lake Oswego and Aloha) for a couple of years before moving down here. We have great memories of that city!!

As far as airports go, the best airport depends upon whether you want to fly in/out of an airport that is near DL or near where the cruise sails. For DL, the John Wayne airport (Orange County) is certainly the choice. It's about 15 - 30 minutes from DL (depending upon traffic). For an airport near the cruise itself, then LAX is the most likely choice. It's big and crowded, but it's also right on the coast and most likely near where the cruise will embark from.

Chris

 

[mommykeg]

jel0511--our actual anniversary is June 10th, but our whole family is off of work and school in July...so July it is! DH's birthday is July 1st, so we'll be celebrating that as well! We can't wait! I bet your kids are as excited as mine are!

Kim

 

[soccerdad-Chris]

Hmmmmm.....

Hello? Hello!!??!! Anyone home?

This is kind of like that awkward lull in conversations that sometimes happens in restaraunts when the whole place gets quiet all of a sudden.

Where is everyone? No posts for a week!!

C'mon everyone. Who's ready to cruise NOW??!!!??

Chris

 

[GrumpyMom1]

C'mon everyone. Who's ready to cruise NOW??!!!?? Chris

Me, me, me!!

Less than 6 months now! It used to be next year and so far off and now it's this year and right around the corner.

Chris - I just noticed you guys did the Eastern in July 2003. Which date did you sail? We were on the July 12 - 19th Eastern in 2003.

 

[jel0511]

I'm getting SO EXCITED!!! For those of you in San Diego, a question... How is Dinner with Shamu? We're thinking of doing this during our stay in San Diego. I've been momentarily sidetracked by our spur of the moment decision to visit WDW over Easter Vacation. I've been dealing with trying to get decent flights (have to fly home from Jacksonville, YUCK) but we're GOING!! My DD (who will be 7 during our sailing) is SO EXCITED that she's going to be going to WDW, DL and on the Disney Cruise all in the same year!! It's better than Christmas here now!!! I just can't wait to get on the ship again!!!!!

 

[mommykeg]

I'm really getting excited tool!!! Can't wait to get some shore excursion info so I have something else to plan!

Kim

 

[soccerdad-Chris]

OK folks, that's much better. 3 posts inside of 12 hours. The restaraunt is loud again!!!

Lori--

We've never done dinner with Shamu, so I can't opine on that. I would wonder, though, about what kind of table manners a whale might have.

Chris

 

[jel0511]

OK folks, that's much better. 3 posts inside of 12 hours. The restaraunt is loud again!!!

Lori--

We've never done dinner with Shamu, so I can't opine on that. I would wonder, though, about what kind of table manners a whale might have.

Chris

HA HA!!!! My kids think it's "cool" so we might do it when we're in San Diego. Personally, I just want to hang out at our hotel, on the beach please!

 

[soccerdad-Chris]

Sheila,
We were on the July 26th cruise, and then stayed at WDW for a few days after that. The cruise was great, but late July in WDW is too hot and muggy for my tastes. Also being from San Diego, I'm sure you can relate.

Kim,
I'm not sure if you're aware of this, but it's somewhat traditional that one person from the DB thread for each cruise plays a leadership role in looking into excursion ideas beyond the usually-crowded ones Disney offers. The primary qualification for that role is enthusiasm for planning, which you are displaying now in abundance. How 'bout it, Kim?? :thewave:

Chris

 

[jel0511]

Chris - Myself and Sheila have already booked our first excursion and it's not Disney related!! We're both going with Randi's Happy Horses in Mazatlan. Her website is http://randishappyhorses.com/ She seems like a wonderful person in my e-mail correspondence with her, and she receive wonderful reviews over on Cruise Critic. We're all looking forward to riding with Sheila and her family, as well as Randi and her team!!! I'm actually of heading out on my own in Puerta Vallarta, I've read reviews of people being able to head over to the Krystal there and being able to use their pool and beach for a $10 fee. I have to do more research about it, but I have seen some mentions of it on Cruise Critic. I've also read all of RCCL, Princess, and Carnival's excursions for our ports. I'd be seriously interested in the Children's Dolphin encounter that's offered in Puerta Vallarta by Carnival. It's for only children and it looks like a blast for my kids. We're planning on doing the Dolphin excursion in Anguilla on our Eastern, so it's up in the air on that one. Cabo, I really haven't seen too much, especially since my youngest is 4. Maybe we'll walk around, or head to a beach, I'll see what Disney has there.

 

[soccerdad-Chris]

Holy cow, Kim, you're way ahead of me!!

My suggestion was partially tongue-in-cheek, and here you come back with an abbreviated travel guide for the cruise, complete with links and researched due diligence on the people running the excursions.

You're hired!!

 

[jel0511]

Holy cow, Kim, you're way ahead of me!!

My suggestion was partially tongue-in-cheek, and here you come back with an abbreviated travel guide for the cruise, complete with links and researched due diligence on the people running the excursions.

You're hired!!

Chris - I know it's early, we still need nametags.... I'm Lori.... Just kidding though...

Edited to add: What else would you expect from a "retired" CPA?

 

[Sarangel]

Now, if we could just find an excursion or two that can cater to the *very* young...

The excursion discussions sound great, but my DD will be only just past 2 & I'm expecting that we'll have to pass on most of them. I don't mind, we'll have a great time on the ship (especially since we don't have to fly 5 hours to get there).

Sara

 

[mommykeg]

Hey Chris---This is Kim!! I also have booked with Randi's Happy Horses and are currently looking into other options...like a dolphin encounter in Puerto Vallarta. They have a special encounter designed for the 8 and under set! My kids will be DD8 and DS4---so I'm also interested in excursions for the younger kids! I'll share anything I find out!

Kim

 

[GrumpyMom1]

Yup, I've read all of the excursion information for the other cruise lines too!

I think in Puerto Vallarta we are going to do this pirate cruise - http://www.marigalante.com.mx/. It's offered as one of the excursions on other cruise lines so I'm guessing DCL will also offer it. If not, I will book it on my own.

 

[soccerdad-Chris]

Soccerdad is getting old, criss-crossing names and such. Sorry about that, Lori. Don't feel bad, I get my kids' names mixed up also.

And, I'm not used to being surrounded by women. :jumping4: :jumping4: :jumping4:

Speaking of which, are there any guys besides me who will be on this cruise?? Where are they, or more specifically, their posts? Haven't they heard of this internet thing? It's been in all the papers. Though it will truly be a lifetime dream for me to be on a cruise ship with only women aboard, I need some Y-chromosome-types with whom I can bond, drink beer, leave the toilet seat up, and avoid asking for directions (e.g. how do I get to Deck 3?).

Where are ya, guys??!!??

Chris