June 16, 2007 MedHead Cruisers

[DVC4US]

Hello again everyone! It's been a while since I've posted, but I have been keeping up on the thread. Welcome to all the new cruisers who have joined us.

Since it has been a while I will do a quick re-introduction because our party has changed a little since my last post.

This cruise will be our 7th with DCL and we are celebrating my daughter's graduation from high school. It will be me - LeiLani, DH - Rich, DD- Brittany(18), DD - Alyssa(11), & DDBestFriend - Madeline(11). We are in the Roy Suite for this cruise. Also joining us are my parents; Mom - Nell, & Dad - Chuck, and they are in a Cat 6 cabin. And the rest of our party will include Brittany's boyfriend and his parents. Dad - Lee, Mom - Angie, & BF - David(18) and they are in a Cat 3. Brittany met David on the Christmas cruise in 2004. He lives in Virginia Beach, VA and we live in Iowa. Even though they live so far apart they have a great relationship.

We are flying into London on the 10th and will be there until the 14th when we will fly into Barcelona. After the cruise the girls and I are spending a couple of days at Disneyland Paris.

We have our hotel rooms in Barcelona booked with DCL and we were at the Hilton Diagonal Mar, but now DCL has changed that to the Hilton Barcelona. I'm not real happy with that move but that's what we are sticking with right now. Hotel rooms in Barcelona are few and far between at the moment and when you need 4-5 rooms it gets even harder.

 

[DVC4US]

6/17 Sunday - Sea Day - Couples Massage(Rich & Lani) 10:45

6/18 Monday - Palmero - Mondello Beach(everyone) 12:45pm
Palo dinner 8:30pm

6/19 Tuesday - Naples - Pompeii, Sorrento, Capri(everyone)
We are looking into a private tour here

6/20 Wednesday - Olbia - Day at Sea at Maddalena Archipelago
(Everyone but Chuck & Nell)
Palo Dinner 7pm

6/21 Thursday - Civitavecchia - VIP visit of the Vatican & Highlights of
Rome(Everyone)

6/22 Friday - Sea Day - Palo Brunch 10:30am

6/23 Saturday - La Spezia - VIP Pisa(Everyone but Lee, Angie,
David & Chuck)
We are also looking into a private tour here
so we can see "David" & Pisa.

6/24 Sunday - Marseille - Soap & Marseille City Tour(Rich, Lani, Britt,
Alyssa, & Madeline)

6/25 Monday - Villefranche - Highlights of Monaco & Top Car Museum
(All the guys)
Create your own Perfume(All the girls)
Evening Casino(Rich, Lani, Lee & Angie)

6/26 Tuesday - Sea Day - Palo Brunch 10:30am

 

[LisaTex]

Hello again DVC4US - Was wondering if you were still out there, although it was for selfish reasons. we are on the waitlist to move up from Cat 3 to 1 or 2 - but now that I see what a GREAT group/trip you guys have - and - the disney cruise "love story", I am so glad you are still going

Wow - have you been the planner for the entire group? I thought I had a big job with only 5! We are mainly doing private tours - I'm sure you have researched it well, but if you - or anyone out there - want any of my info please let me know.

Welcome back to the thread!!

 

[DVC4US]

Hi Lisa! Thanks for the welcome back. Sorry, but we are still here. It really wasn't too bad planning everything. Between us and David's family we decided what we wanted to do and then I told my parents which excursions we were going on and they picked the ones they wanted to do. The hardest part was to get DH to sit down and look over the excursions and decide which ones looked good.

We have researched the private excursions and decided we only wanted to do ones we could book through DCL. DH and others in our party did not want to go out on our own, but wanted excursions backed by DCL just in case something happens. So, I think we are going to do private tours in Naples & La Spezia. We also looked at doing one in Rome, but it was hard to give up the private tour of the Sistine Chapel. I am still trying to see if we can possibly still do the private tour of the Sistine Chapel if we do a private car tour.

 

[DVC4US]

I wanted to see what everyone thought about doing a wine and cheese DIS meet in our suite. We did this the last time we were in a Cat 1 and it turned out really nice. It was a great chance to meet other DISers on the cruise, and it gave everyone a chance to look at one of the big suites. I was thinking about doing this on the first sea day in the afternoon. Rich and I have a spa appointment at 10:45am that I think will last about 2 hours so we could meet sometime between 2pm & 4pm. It is always hard to do this because you run the chance of conflicting with something else but we can just pick a time and whoever can show up will be great.

Let me know what everyone thinks and what times might work.

 

[Worktoplay]

Hi DVC4US,

That's sounds like a lovely idea! I would love to see your suite and it would be great to meet everyone else. We are also DVCer's since 1996! My name is Marie and I'll be travelling with my DS12 Jeff. My husband and 18 year old are passing on this trip. We have a trip planned in July to Disney World with my other son his girlfriend, my stepdaughter, her fiance. It will be a Disney summer for us!

Marie

 

[Lqqieee]

Hi LeiLani!

I think that is a lovely idea and VERY sweet of you to offer your suite as the meet n greet place! I've always wanted to see the inside of either the Roy or Walt suite and never was lucky enough to stay in one, but now I can see the inside of one at least! I would be honored to be invited to see your suite! I think the first sea day between the times you posted is great. Would you like us to bring anything, like cheese or wine even? Also what is the room number and would we just knock?

Lisa

 

[DVC4US]

Hi Marie! That sounds like a great summer to me. We were just at WDW for spring break and we had a great time. We are also planning on going for F&W again this year and we will be there for Christmas. After the cruise this summer we will be busy getting Brittany off to school. She has orientation on July 23 & 24, and then Aug 16th is early move in for the dorms. So after the cruise things will be very crazy for us.

Actually, things are crazy right now and will probably stay that way until August. We are having some remodeling done around the house so things are a mess right now, and I can't seem to find anything. Not only am I trying to plan this cruise, but I am aslo trying to plan Britt's open house(that's what they do for graduating seniors around here), which will be May 26th. And then because we have so much going on over the summer we are getting started on things Britt will need for her dorm room and for college. It's a good thing I don't work and can sit around on the internet all day!

 

[Lqqieee]

I have 2 questions to ask everyone here:

1. Since this is our first time traveling abroad to Europe, and since we will be traveling to Paris/DLP after the cruise, how many suitcases should we bring? It's just myself and my DH. What are we up against with respect to how much luggage we can handle on our own at the airports, getting luggage to the cruise, and in/out of buses for transportation to and from the airports. He is suggesting one big suitcase, but since I am a woman and we tend to over pack, I'm shooting for 2 or even 3 large suitcases. How should we pack and how many suitcases should we bring for the whole 15 day trip (1 extra day in Barcelona and 3 in Paris)?

2. We are choosing "Jumping back into Eternal Rome" tour through DCL and it will run from 745am to 545pm. It includes everything we want to see except for the inside tour of the Sistine Chapel. Since the tour is taking us back to the cruise at 5:45pm, would we have enough time to then get a private tour with a private driver on our own and drive the hour back to Rome, see the Sistene Chapel and then drive back to the cruise before it takes off? Is anyone else doing a DCL tour then a private tour back to back?

TIA!

 

[DVC4US]

Hi LeiLani!

I think that is a lovely idea and VERY sweet of you to offer your suite as the meet n greet place! I've always wanted to see the inside of either the Roy or Walt suite and never was lucky enough to stay in one, but now I can see the inside of one at least! I would be honored to be invited to see your suite! I think the first sea day between the times you posted is great. Would you like us to bring anything, like cheese or wine even? Also what is the room number and would we just knock?

Lisa

Hi Lisa! It really is no problem. We did this the last time we had a Cat 1 and it was a lot of fun. No, you do not need to bring anything. Last time we just had a couple bottles of wine, some champagne, water, & soda. And we just ordered the cheese trays from room service.

We are in cabin 8530(The Roy Suite) and if we don't have the door open just knock or ring the doorbell. You also do not need to dress up for this either. So if you are by the pool and just want to throw on a cover-up that's fine with me. And bring the kids, we'll try to have some treats for them too!

Funny story:
Alyssa and her friend Madeline sure know how to order cookies and milk from room service. When we were on our cruise last summer they ordered them every day at least once. I picked up the phone to order for them one time and the CM in room service said, "Hello Alyssa or Madeline, is it time for your milk and cookies?" I laughed and said I guess it was! It was pretty bad that the room service team was expecting their call every day.

 

[Lqqieee]

Hi Lisa! It really is no problem. We did this the last time we had a Cat 1 and it was a lot of fun. No, you do not need to bring anything. Last time we just had a couple bottles of wine, some champagne, water, & soda. And we just ordered the cheese trays from room service.

We are in cabin 8530(The Roy Suite) and if we don't have the door open just knock or ring the doorbell. You also do not need to dress up for this either. So if you are by the pool and just want to throw on a cover-up that's fine with me. And bring the kids, we'll try to have some treats for them too!

Funny story:
Alyssa and her friend Madeline sure know how to order cookies and milk from room service. When we were on our cruise last summer they ordered them every day at least once. I picked up the phone to order for them one time and the CM in room service said, "Hello Alyssa or Madeline, is it time for your milk and cookies?" I laughed and said I guess it was! It was pretty bad that the room service team was expecting their call every day.

Thank you for your information. As we get closer I'm sure you will finalize times and such. Again thank you for being so kind and generous offering up your suite, I am so excited and so is my DH!

On our prior 2 DCL cruises we ordered the wine and cheese AND the milk and cookies nearly every night as well! They got to know my DH pretty well!

Oh we're going to F&W festival this October as well! MY DH went 2 times last year, this will be my first F&W experience, can't wait to sample all the lovely treats in EPCOT!

 

[Worktoplay]

Lqqieee

As far as luggage goes, don't forget that each back needs to be 50 pounds or under or you will be charged. Flights inbetween other countries often have more strict poliicies regarding the weight of bags. I would "try" to pack light, you can wash on the cruise.

LeiLani,

You are much more ahead of the graduating game than myself. I haven't decided whether to have his graduation party at the house or at a restaurant. My DH said to first put the guest list together....however...I spend too much time on these boards! Yikes! lol Lucky for us, his college doesn't start until September so I have some time there. It will get done...it always does!

Again, thanks so much for offering your suite, it will be such a treat!

Marie

 

[PrincessJasmine08]

I wanted to see what everyone thought about doing a wine and cheese DIS meet in our suite. We did this the last time we were in a Cat 1 and it turned out really nice. It was a great chance to meet other DISers on the cruise, and it gave everyone a chance to look at one of the big suites. I was thinking about doing this on the first sea day in the afternoon. Rich and I have a spa appointment at 10:45am that I think will last about 2 hours so we could meet sometime between 2pm & 4pm. It is always hard to do this because you run the chance of conflicting with something else but we can just pick a time and whoever can show up will be great.

Let me know what everyone thinks and what times might work.

What a fun idea...that sounds WONDERFUL!! Thanks so much for offering!!

 

[DVC4US]

Marie,

Here in Iowa(which we are new to, only been here 4 1/2 years) each senior holds an open house. You pick a day and time, usually about 3 hours, and you have your house open for guests to stop by for as long as they want.(Up to the 3 hours ) We will have food & drinks, and they usually set up an area where you display photos from your childs life, including a scrapbook. They also usually have a slide show going on a TV or large screen with pictures. Plus a multitude of other things. The hard part about this is the kids just invite whoever they want, along with the people you invite and you never know how many people are going to show up. This is our first time doing this so I'm sure it's going to be an experience. Luckily, I have great neighbors(who are from Iowa) and they are all ready to help me plan this thing. I think I am going to be ready for a vacation after all of this!

 

[Worktoplay]

LleiLana,

I'm sure you will be ready for a vacay after all that! I could handle the open house, just not all the photo displays etc. Too much work for me! lol I thought it might be nice to have the graduation at a restaurant that has a game room so the kids would be entertained and also my son will be in the same area as all the guests so he thanks everyone for coming. Having gone to other graduation parties at the homes, the kids tend to go off to the basement or some place to hang with their friends and by the time its all over some guests could have come and gone without being greated by the guest of honor. Either way, its our first to graduate so I have no experience!

Marie

 

[pillow]

DVC4US - Are you sure you know what you're getting into??!! I can't imagine anyone on these boards NOT wanting to come to your open house on board the ship. Very generous of you (and brave). Count us in. Just let us know when and where. Thanks!! -J

 

[DVC4US]

Marie,

I wish we could do ours at a restaurant, but that's not the way they do it around here. It would be so much eaiser. I have to get started on the pictures next week. I have all kinds, but I wasn't always organized so they are scattered around the house. I'm sure I'll get it done, just going to be hectic for a while.

 

[DVC4US]

DVC4US - Are you sure you know what you're getting into??!! I can't imagine anyone on these boards NOT wanting to come to your open house on board the ship. Very generous of you (and brave). Count us in. Just let us know when and where. Thanks!! -J

Hi pillow! It's really not too bad. We did it the last time we had a Cat 1 and it was a lot of fun. I know I always wanted to see inside one of the big suites before we got the chance to stay in the Walt Suite so it's always nice to let other DISers take a look. Plus it makes a great place for a DIS meet.

As it gets a little closer we can set a definite time for the meet. Also, I will start collecting everyone's cabin numbers if you want to give them to me and then I will put a little reminder on the fish outside your door the night before. You can either post your cabin number here, PM me, or email me at
LNaylor863@aol.com

 

[DVC4US]

pillow - my daughter is out in your neck of the woods(sort of) pretty often. Her boyfriend lives in Virginia Beach and she flies out to see him about every other month. And starting in August she will be in Virginia most of the year - she will be starting her freshman year at Virginia Tech. We lived in the Portsmouth area for 5 years back in the 90's and that's where my youngest was born.

 

[WVMD]

Welcome Back LeiLani!!! Looks like we are doing a few of our tours together - The VIP Vatican and the Pompeii one. I need to post our list - and will in the next few days.

We're right next door in 8532.

Talk to you soon....

Virgil