July 9th 2005 - West Coast Cruise.

[Amous]

It's been awhile since I've visited the board.... look at all the posts! I'm in for some reading!

My son (15 at time of sailing) still doesn't know we're cruising. Not sure if I'll surprise him for his b-day or wait to the day we drive to meet the Magic.

Thank you all for keeping the post alive!

Amy

 

[soccerdad-Chris]

It's been awhile since I've visited the board.... look at all the posts! I'm in for some reading!
Amy

Amy,
Welcome back. Let us know when you finish reading the backlog of posts. There'll be a quiz.
Chris

 

[hayesktrm]

Mommykeg told me to check this out. My DH, DS (12) and DD (8 at the time of sailing) will be on this cruise. We are celebrating our 16th anniversary on July 14th. We are also doing Randi's Happy Horses. I bet she is getting close to being booked up by all of us.

Looking forward to the cruise!

 

[Soccermom-Cheri]

hayesktrm-

Our kids are the same age - after we tell them, we should get them hooked up via email so they can get to know each other before hand.

 

[hayesktrm]

Soccermom-Cheri. That would be great. Since I found another girl for my DD (Mommykeg's DD), I'm not worried about her, but I haven't found any other 12 yo boys for my DS.

 

[Amous]

A brief background from my family: I'm Amy (Cruise Age: 44) and my DS Matt (Cruise Age: 15). Live in Riverside CA. Hopefully the lack of a good sea breeze won't affect my memory for the quiz! This is our 4th cruise. I'm grandfather-ed in as a Native Californian. My son is a 3rd generation native.

Okay Chris, I'm ready --- hopefully? Being the pro-active type of person that I am, let's see if I'm up to speed.

We're returning the day Disneyland turns 50. Cruizin'gain -- you have a son who will be 15 during the cruise? Our DS's really need to hook up! A previous post from GrumpyMom1 shows she has a 16 year old DD. No need to worry!

pferrell -- an early happy b-day to your sister who'll be celebrating during the cruise.

Football? The Giants? I'm the neutral party on this one.

Jel0511 & mommykey -- 10 year anniversary (5/21 & 6/10 respectfully)! And a 24-year celebration for FOJMO on 7/11! Congrats to all!! Jel, you'll love the Hotel del Coronado. It's absolutely beautiful.

Last person to get their docs buys drinks at the Sailaway?! Uh-oh! Sounds like the party is starting right off the bat!

Shoes? Being grandfather-ed in as a CA Native, I'm a barefoot/sandal-kinda-gal. Just the basics, not a lot of shoes for me! Chris.... your fashion commentary is classic!

Sara, Chris -- you're in late seating for dinner? We are too.

Whew!!!!!

 

[GrumpyMom1]

Wow, this place is getting busy. Thanks for the excursion information Lori. Any word on when the Puerto Vallarta excursions will be known?

Any 10 - 12 year old girls out there? We already found a buddy for DD16 but DD12 needs one. I told her there were 12yo boys that she can meet up with but she looked at me like I'm nuts.

Amy - are you a single mom or just travelling alone? You can join up with me and SusanB who are both single moms travelling with teenage kids.

 

[soccerdad-Chris]

Okay Chris, I'm ready --- hopefully? Being the pro-active type of person that I am, let's see if I'm up to speed.

Sara, Chris -- you're in late seating for dinner? We are too.

Well, Amy. I'd say you did pretty darn good. Except for one minor thing (Sara's in early seating, I believe), you pretty much summarized things pretty accurately.

Chris

 

[mommykeg]

Lori--my daughter started e-mailing hayesktrm's DD a few months back...she'd love to "get to know" your DD as well! It's so cool that they'll all be doing Randi's together! Also, my DS will be 4 as well...a bit young for e-mail, but he and your DS will have a friend for the ride. Has your DS ever been horseback riding before? I'm a little worried...I hope my DS does ok!

Kim

 

[mommykeg]

Chris...

Thanks for the advice about the pre vs. post cruise Disneyland hotel stay debate! I'm leaning your way at this moment...staying a few days before and keeping the Cruise as the highlight. we'll see...

Kim

 

[soccerdad-Chris]

Well, I must agree that things have livened up around here. Excursion info has been flowing (thanks to several people, cruise director Lori especially), group brunches have been arranged, DDs and DSs are beginning to be paired up, and people are doing very well on their thread history quizes.

The thread for the last cruise we took got to 87 pages by the time it was done, though that's a pretty active one, I would say. We've added almost 6 pages in the last week alone, so we're on a pretty good pace. Let's see if we can get to 90 pages by the time we sail!!!

If we do, I'll buy a round of sail-away party drinks for anyone that wants one!!

Chris

 

[jel0511]

Lori--my daughter started e-mailing hayesktrm's DD a few months back...she'd love to "get to know" your DD as well! It's so cool that they'll all be doing Randi's together! Also, my DS will be 4 as well...a bit young for e-mail, but he and your DS will have a friend for the ride. Has your DS ever been horseback riding before? I'm a little worried...I hope my DS does ok!

Kim - sounds like a GREAT idea. My DD is 6 now, and turns 7 in May. She'd LOVE getting e-mail from a new friend!! My e-mail is located in my profile, so e-mail away! I agree the DS's are a little young, and no DS, nor DD for that matter have been on a horse, though they are looking forward to it. Randi assured me that one of her guides will be in charge of my son leading his horse along our way. She also said the guide would also keep a close eye on my DD, so I'm not worried at all!!!

Amous - Great summary and I agree with Chris, you've passed the quiz with flying colors!! We're also on late seating, but waitlisted for early, but I don't have any hope of that coming through since we just booked in December.

Let's see if we can get to 90 pages by the time we sail!!!

If we do, I'll buy a round of sail-away party drinks for anyone that wants one!!

A challenge has been laid down my Mr. Chris.... Well alrighty then, who am I to turn down a free drink! Let's keep this thread rockin'!!!!

 

[jel0511]

Kim -

We're doing our Southern California tour before the cruise, though we did think about doing it after. We ultimately decided we'd like to do all the running and park touring before the realaxing cruise, than before. Unforunately, we'll be at DL probably before you get there....

 

[Amous]

Thanks for the kudos, ya'll. Sheila - I'm a single mom as well. Would love to hook up with you and Susan! Catch up with ya'll later......

 

[jel0511]

Question for those of you in the San Diego area:

I'm trying to come up with some good local place to eat when we're there before our cruise. So far, we're eating dinner with Shamu (I know VERY touristy, but DD read about it on the Sea World website and my life would be over if we didn't do it), and I'm tossing around a few other ideas. We plan on heading up to La Jolla for dinner one night and would like a family friendly place to eat. Currently I'm thinking of Sammy's Woodfired Pizza's. We have California Pizza Kitchen out here and LOVE it, but Sammy's seems more authentic to me. Is it good? If not, any other decent family, friendly place in La Jolla. O.K. our other requirement is GREAT (ie good isn't good enough) Mexican. There is a Miguel's Cocina right across the street from the Hotel Del Coronado, which would be totally convinient for us. Is it as good as some of the places in the Old Town section. I've read good things about Old Town Mexican Cafe. I've also read good things about Gringo's in Mission Bay, but we really wanted to try to stay around Coronado for one night. If I could only get my DD to want to eat Breakfast with Shamu I'd be fine!!! If I can convince DD to eat Breakfast with Shamu, where is the best Mexican you can think of? That way, if it's not on Coronado, we'll still have one night left to eat on Coronado. We've tossed around the idea of Peohe's if we can get DD off Dinner with Shamu...... Any help here would be appreciated!

 

[jel0511]

Kim -

I had to tell you something funny!! MY DH was browsing this thread last night and he noticed you're from Rancho Cucamonga. He was SO EXCITED about that. He said, that's probably the "coolest" name for a town and he can't believe he's going to meet someone who lives there!!!!

 

[cruzin'gain]

Amous-

Sent you a PM with son's email info. It will be cruise time before we know it.

 

[GrumpyMom1]

Ok, since you brought up Rancho Cucamonga, I have to tell you that my DD16 likes that name too! She's in colorguard and has been in competitions with schools from there and giggles every time she hears it. She also thinks it's cool that someone from there will be on our cruise. We will actually be going there for a colorguard competition in March.

 

[Sarangel]

Sara, Chris -- you're in late seating for dinner? We are too.

Well, you got it almost all right. My family & I have the early seating, since our DD likes to hit the hay around 7:30. Since she's going to be just 2 on the cruise, I don't want to mess up her schedule *too* much, though I'm sure we will anyway. Hopefully she'll prove adaptable (she has in the past, but she never sleeps in late )

Sara

 

[Soccermom-Cheri]

Question for those of you in the San Diego area:

Currently I'm thinking of Sammy's Woodfired Pizza's. We have California Pizza Kitchen out here and LOVE it, but Sammy's seems more authentic to me. Is it good? If not, any other decent family, friendly place in La Jolla. O.K. our other requirement is GREAT (ie good isn't good enough) Mexican. There is a Miguel's Cocina right across the street from the Hotel Del Coronado,

Since I'd rather eat Mexican than anything else on earth (and, yes, I'll have a margarita with that. Rocks. No salt.) I'll take a stab at this one.

First, Sammy's Woodfired Pizza is outstanding. The pizza is yummy, but not pepperoni and sausage type. Thai chicken, pear and gorgonzola, cajun shrimp... it's all yummy. Salads to die for! and it's not a "trendy hot spot" but it is crowded.

Now mexican ..... El Agave in Old Town is good but $$$. So is Casa De Bandini from what I remember (Old Town, too). It's totally different than the pristine Hotel Del, that's for sure. Check out sandiegorestaurants.com for reviews. We have a great place (over 50 different tequilas and an entire margarita menu ) but it's a 40 minute drive.

I agree, good just isn't good enough.