June 15 '08 Mexican Riv. Cruise

[Nevada]

Is everyone deciding on the excursions? A big chunk of our group will be doing the zip line! I however will take the smaller kids on something they can enjoy! Our travel group is 12. I think 9 of whom want to do the zipline.

I got a letter yesterday about some of the excursions. There is a villa trip costing $2200 to Cape Miramar. I don't think I'm jumping on that one!

What time are the brunches? I might want to do that with Palo instead.

 

[earpiemom]

Hi. Thought I would let everyone know a little about our family. I work in the legal field for the court system. My DH is a EMS director. My DS16 loves Wake Forest and is hopeful to go there and major in the medical field. My DS3loves being wild. The age difference makes for interesting moments at our house.

This will be our 4th Disney cruise and we have been on other lines but found for our family that Disney is by far the best. My DS3 went on his first Disney cruise when he was 5 months so he has grown up around Disney. He loves the characters. My DS16 loves to pin trading so he enjoys doing that during the cruises.

Just a couple of things that have popped in my mind that might help first time cruisers. A great idea for souvenirs is to take something to guest services for autographs. We have done shirts, pillowcases, picture frame mat and our last cruise I took a tote bag and it turned out great. Also, take advantage of room service. It is great to order their cookies or cheese tray. Last cruise we even ate supper from there one night and it was great. The Mediterrean cruise was so port heavy that some days it was very late when returning to the boat. The day we were in Rome it was late and we were exhausted and it worked out good to have the room service.

I will be glad to try to answer any questions if new cruisers have any. We have two cat 12's booked but are hopeful for upgrades. Just couldn't bear to pay any more. We went on the Med cruise last summer cheaper than this one. Of course our airfare was out the roof to fly to Spain but the actual cruise was cheaper for that one.

 

[Steven41782]

Earpiemom,

Can we bring a small t-shirt and have Mickey's friends sign it?? That would be a cheap and sweet souvie for my nephew (5).

Room service... yes I had a cookie everynight... and often ordered a PB&J. (Remember the 4 year old palate). That is a really good tip.

My favorite tip was to fold all of your nice clothes tightly when packing... with no regard to whether they are wrinkled. Then when you get on the ship send everything to be pressed. On the drycleaning slip, write "Press Only" and they charge a pretty cheap price. That was cool.

We brought an over the door shoe organizer to put all of our stuff in, but found it unnecessary... mainly because there are only 2 of us.

Also, family is lucky to have gone on so many cruises! and 4 Disney. I hope we are able to treat our children to a lot of Disney memories when we have them.

Have you done a 3 night or 4 night on the wonder? Does it seem over too fast??

 

[earpiemom]

Stephen41782 - Yes, you could bring a small shirt for your nephew. I put our things in a ziplock bag and wrote our last name and room number on it. Take it to guest services the first day and they will fill out a form. They will ask you which characters you want to sign the item. The items were then returned to our stateroom the last night of the cruise. This is awesome! All of the things we have had done have turned out so good.

I do consider our family to be fortunate to have taken the cruises. We love going on them. We have done the 3 night Wonder and for me it is just way too short. It seemed we had just got on the boat and it was time to go. We drove down to FL for that trip and I felt the travel time was not worth the time on the boat. But, we did that for our DS 13th birthday. We were actually on the boat the night of his birthday so it turned out good. A lot of people make comments to me about our traveling so much but I look at it as great memories for our family. I have never regretted one minute of it. To me, Disney's service is so far better that we are kind of spoiled now.

I am not real good at downloading pictures but I know how to send one to an email. If you want to see some of the items we have had autographed I will be glad to try to email a picture to you.

 

[earpiemom]

Sorry Steven I just realized I spelled your name wrong.

 

[Sorcerer Mom]

So happy to read from Earpiemom that the autographed items came out nice and was hoping to do that with a photo mat...makes a great keepsake with a family pic. I had also thought in addition to getting the characters to sign, it would be neat to ask for the Captain's signature too but had read somehwere on the boards that if you ask for the Captain's signature, he'll only sign something if his is the only signature. Do you know if that's true?

We're going to be sure and take our pin lanyards...we don't often wear them in the parks and on the rides for fear they will fall off...I read about the pin trading and bet you can get some unusual pins on the cruise...

We're looking forward to enjoying room service too...my DS wants to order something at 2am to see if the 24 hour thing really "works"...crazy kid Earpie - did your DS enjoy the kids clubs?

 

[earpiemom]

Sorcerer Mom - I had the Captain to sign a lithograph in one of the stores on our last cruise. It showed the path of the Med cruise. He was at a table doing a meet and greet alone. I don't know about leaving something at guest services for the captain to sign.

My DS did room service several mornings at 2am and sure enough it worked. He was in a room next door to us so it didn't bother us. He would order chocolate chips cookies and chocolate milk. I felt kind of bad that they would come that far up there for just that but our room steward laughed and said they do that all the time. He said they knew the kids loved it. I just made sure he did tip them.

He enjoyed the kids clubs more when he was in the Oceaneer age group. I think that is the right name but that is for up to like 14 or so. I have always encouraged him to go to the first few meets for those. That way he gets to mix and mingle and usually meets up with someone or a couple of kids that he really gets along with. He has also met up with other kids his age at the pin trading and they have gotten along really great throughout the week. Especially since they have that in common.He met another guy his age on the St Thomas cruise during pin trading and they are actually from CA so we are hoping to get up with them while we are there for the cruise. My son has only missed one night of pin trading during the cruises we have been on. That was when we were in port in Rome and didn't get back in time. He loves that. I don't know how many pins you have, but for us Ebay was a great way to get some cheaper for him to trade.

 

[Steven41782]

I would like a photograph. My email is the same as my user name on the dis. Just add @ hotmail . com

I just talked to a friend who vacationed in puerto vallarta and was told that the zipline and ATV tours were good. You can also tour a beer factory there.
I don't know what we will do. On our last cruise we spent maybe 2 - 3 hours in Key West and Grand Cayman and enjoyed the free time w/ low crowds on the boat. We did spend the entire day at Cozumel and Castaway Cay though. My wife and I will have to look over the options together as it gets closer to time to book those exccursions. We are castaway members now, so maybe we can book a favorable time at PALO.

 

[Sorcerer Mom]

Sorcerer Mom - I had the Captain to sign a lithograph in one of the stores on our last cruise. It showed the path of the Med cruise. He was at a table doing a meet and greet alone. I don't know about leaving something at guest services for the captain to sign.

My DS did room service several mornings at 2am and sure enough it worked. He was in a room next door to us so it didn't bother us. He would order chocolate chips cookies and chocolate milk. I felt kind of bad that they would come that far up there for just that but our room steward laughed and said they do that all the time. He said they knew the kids loved it. I just made sure he did tip them.

He enjoyed the kids clubs more when he was in the Oceaneer age group. I think that is the right name but that is for up to like 14 or so. I have always encouraged him to go to the first few meets for those. That way he gets to mix and mingle and usually meets up with someone or a couple of kids that he really gets along with. He has also met up with other kids his age at the pin trading and they have gotten along really great throughout the week. Especially since they have that in common.He met another guy his age on the St Thomas cruise during pin trading and they are actually from CA so we are hoping to get up with them while we are there for the cruise. My son has only missed one night of pin trading during the cruises we have been on. That was when we were in port in Rome and didn't get back in time. He loves that. I don't know how many pins you have, but for us Ebay was a great way to get some cheaper for him to trade.

I don't think I'll share the success of the 2am cookie runs with my DS . Even though we're in a Cat 6, I know all four of us will be tight...and makes me wish for two cabins but we decided to splurge on the verandah. Since he's 12 I'm hoping he'll have fun in the clubs...he's a social little dude. I love that they have the pin trading every night...WOW. Thanks for the ebay tip, I'll have to check that out. Many of our pins have sentimental value and would hate to see him part with some of them (will have to leave those home).

Did anyone join in any of the door decoration/fish extender fun on any of your cruises?

What was your favorite restaurant (besides Palo)???

 

[Steven41782]

What is a fish extender.

I like Lumiere's the best! Animator's Palate is okay too. Parrot Cay was my least favorite, but still good.

 

[Nevada]

What days are you guys going to try to go to Palo's? Do they have brunch most days?

 

[Steven41782]

Hey Nevada residents... I saw on the news where there was an earthquake in Nevada. Were any of you affected??

 

[Sorcerer Mom]

Hey Nevada residents... I saw on the news where there was an earthquake in Nevada. Were any of you affected??

No, the slot machines are still up and running this morning The quake hit northern Nevada, Wells, Elko area which is about three + hours from Vegas. Those poor folks - there was quite a bit of damage. We have felt one here a few years back...in the middle of the night...it was a very creepy feeling. Thanks for think of us

 

[Sorcerer Mom]

What days are you guys going to try to go to Palo's? Do they have brunch most days?

Veteran cruisers may better answer this question but, from what I've read it seems that Palo Brunch is offerred on sea days only. Don't know if you've checked out the food pics thread...they have some great ones of brunch...yum

 

[Steven41782]

I'm glad the earthquake didn't hit you guys, but the people in Northern Nevada are certainly in our prayers.

I haven't got a chance to look at the food thread, I'll have to do that. I have looked at the Cruiseline Picture of the Day thread. People take some pretty amazing pictures. Our local technical college teaches a couple of month long class on photography. I've always thought about going to it!

Is the brunch at Palo the same price as the proper supper?

I am still wondering what a fish extender is.

 

[Sorcerer Mom]

I'm glad the earthquake didn't hit you guys, but the people in Northern Nevada are certainly in our prayers.

I haven't got a chance to look at the food thread, I'll have to do that. I have looked at the Cruiseline Picture of the Day thread. People take some pretty amazing pictures. Our local technical college teaches a couple of month long class on photography. I've always thought about going to it!

Is the brunch at Palo the same price as the proper supper?

I am still wondering what a fish extender is.

Yes, Dinner and Brunch are same price, $15 per person, the high tea is less...I think it's $10.

Okay, Fish Extenders...here is a pic

It's a fun thing for exchanging little gifts, messages etc.

 

[Nevada]

Great picture! Where did you guys get all that stuff?

 

[Nevada]

Does everyone have their room assignments yet? I booked with ours but I understand that is not always the case.

 

[Steven41782]

Now I know what a fish extender is! I actually pictured streamers coming off the fish's tail and running down the hallway...lol. (Making the fish longer).


Our room assignment says "guaranty". We had a room assignment last cruise in 2006, but they bumped us up to a family verandah on the deck 8, so that turned out to be changed anyways. We had booked a Navigator's Verandah originally.


We are in a category 12 right now, but I'm hoping we get upgraded to Cat 10 so we can at least have two bathrooms. I understand that they let families of 4 book cat 12's and they are automatically bumped up to 11's since the 12's only hold 3 people. However, we will be on the DISNEY MAGIC!!, so I'll sleep in the crew bunks if neccessary.

 

[Sorcerer Mom]

Morning everyone

Looking out my window at beautiful snow-capped Mt. Charleston but wishin it was the ocean and the Magic I was seein soon...soon

Crazy weekend....with DD swim try-outs and DS little league so I didn't even get a chance to get on-line...what's up with that?

We have a GTY also (Cat. 6) so no room number yet. I'm anxious to know 'cause I'd love to scope out where we are on the ship, look for room reviews etc. But, from what I've read with a GTY, the cabin # can be assigned anywhere from 30 days to when you check-in Oh, well, like Steve said...as long as we're on the Magic it's gunna be okay

Nevada - Wish I could take the credit for the pic. but that's not our door. I did start to get stuff for our door decorations over the weekend...very exciting Scrapbooking stuff works great. The doors are metal so magnets are what make everyting stick...DCL asks that you NOT use any sort of tape or adhesive. I hope I can be as creative as some on the Boards. Lots of folks make their fish extenders and others improvise...just depends how handy you are. Decorating the door sure does make it easy to find yours too...another perk besides it just being fun to do.

Anyone purchase photo packages on previous cruises? Steven, I Know you said your DW LOVED Shutters....I'd love to get at least one great family photo...I'm sure there are lots to choose from over the course of the cruise but don't want to over do it. I'm sure the crew and other folks are good about taking pics right for you right?

Also, anyone planning to rent formal wear for the guys or have you rented from the ship before?