June 25, 2005 Mexican Riviera..anyone going with us?

[got2gp]

Hi everyone,

Wasn't that great yesterday seeing the Magic going through the PC! I was stuck at home with some wokmen installing, or should I say replacing, my brand new countertop (it cracked in less than 3 months), so I was able to watch it going thru the last lock live. You know what that means, don't you--she's halfway here!

Welcome PizzieDuster! It's great that you were able to get onboard so last minute. On our last cruise neither dd 15 or ds 11 managed to find someone to hang out with but they still had fun. I'm hoping that they will both find a friend or two this time. What do your kids like to do besides sports?

Cheryl

 

[got2gp]

Hi Cliff,

Don't get me wrong, the kids loved Hawaii. What they were bored with was the tour we took them on of the military bases, where we shopped, worked ect., and where we used to live. After all it had been over 20 years since we had been there, it was where we met and where we first lived together, so major memories for us and a great big yawn for them. We took them to Pearl Harbor, Wheeler Field, Schofield Bks, our apartment in Wiapio Valley (I'm sure I spelled that wrong!), Pearl City mall where I worked (well dd liked that part, lol) and so on.

I think the thing I remember most fondly would have to be the people I met while there. We had a wonderful landlady who kind of took us in and treated us like family. We moved in in December and she invited us to Christmas dinner the day we met! When she decided to redo the kitchen in the apartment she asked us to pick everything out. I also loved the beaches, North Shore in the summer and Waikiki in the winter.

As far as letting kids go out on their own onboard, well that is a very difficult thing for a lot of folks, me included. We let Laura, 15 (almost 16 on the first one), have the run of the ship on both of our cruises. She had a set of rules we set down before hand and had to check in with a phone call or note if plans changed. She will be able to go where and when she wants, within reason, on this trip. After all, she can drive!!

Tom, on the other hand, was 10 on the first cruise and he was not allowed to roam alone. I did let him go to the arcade by himself once or twice later on in the week, straight there and back, no where else. On our last cruise Tom was 11 and we let him have more freedom allowing him to sign himself in and out of the kid's club, but he had to come straight to the cabin. He will be turning 12 on this trip and I figure he will get more freedom to go on his own, at least once I know he can find his way around the ship. We will of course set down a set of rules for them both. They are both good kids and should be fine, but I still worry a little, after all I am a mom!

Cheryl

 

[PizzieDuster]

Hi everyone,

Wasn't that great yesterday seeing the Magic going through the PC! I was stuck at home with some wokmen installing, or should I say replacing, my brand new countertop (it cracked in less than 3 months), so I was able to watch it going thru the last lock live. You know what that means, don't you--she's halfway here!

Welcome PizzieDuster! It's great that you were able to get onboard so last minute. On our last cruise neither dd 15 or ds 11 managed to find someone to hang out with but they still had fun. I'm hoping that they will both find a friend or two this time. What do your kids like to do besides sports?

Cheryl

Hi Cheryl! Thank you for the welcome. I couldn't stand not taking this Mexican sailing...I was going bonkers!

My DS12 Tyler loves to paintball, play computer games, loves the ping tables on the ship, watch movies, play basketball, eat the chicken strips and the pools on the ship. He likes football and baseball. But likes to get away from that on the ship. Thank goodness he still thinks girls have coodies! The problem last year was his 14 yr old brother made friends faster than he did.
Now he'll be 15 this year. (My oldest son). I remember last year regretting not having him "meet" someone on line - despite the differences - it sure would be nice to have someone to sit by and talk to while hanging in the lab.

Now my DD6 - ohhh, the Disney Cruise is MADE for little girls this age. We'll never see her!

I let my DS15 and DS12 have roaming privileges. We use a "this is where the post it message board is" MUST LEAVE NOTES and check in times. They'll find us anyway and we see them more than they see us I love those times, just watching from a distance

So now, I'm trying to do my homework on excursions. Any suggestions?
I guess I better get working on it!

So excited now!

 

[got2gp]

PizzieDuster,

Tom is not into organized sports at all, but he does love to ride his bike and swim, he also loves video games, music, movies and cars. He is camping with his Boy Scout troop this weekend so he hasn't been able to see the new Star Wars movie yet, but I'm sure he will want to go as soon as he gets home tommorow. Just don't tell him we already saw it last night without him, lol. I hope he will have a good time in the lab. when we sailed before with Royal Carribean and Carnival he went to the kids clubs some and enjoyed the video games and activities. He liked Royal Carribean better, but is looking forward to Disney to see how it compares.

Laura, is well, a teenage girl... She loves shopping, music, plays the guitar a little and spends a lot of time chatting with her friends on AIM and plotting trips to the movies, concerts and the mall. She is a good girl, a little on the quiet side at first, but watch out once you get to know her she will talk your ear off. She was not impressed with the teen programs such as they were on either cruise. Events were canceled left and right and there were never many kids hanging out in the teen club. She found a friend the first nite on Royal Carribean and ended up hanging with her. No such luck on the Carnival cruise, she became my shadow and hung out with me most of the time. DH had a cold and was not feeling well so she and I went to the shows, played Bingo, shopped and went to the art auction together. She was bummed that she couldn't hang is the casino with me. She had a good time, it just wasn't the same as with a friend her own age.

Cheryl

 

[got2gp]

We used the post it system on our last cruise to keep track of everyone's commings and goings. It worked great except the post its got lost a couple times cause they are so small. One had fallen off the mirror into the trash can. I bought a small notebook to use this time so we can all check in and out and nothing will (hopefully) get lost. We will just leave it on the desk. I know others use a small white board, but I like the idea of something more permanant.

Cheryl

 

[AUDREY BELCHER]

Hi everyone

we use walkie talkie radios my husband and I use them also so we can keep in touch with each other. It worked great on our last cruise with Brandyn age 10. But my dd did not know how to use them and every time we wanted to call her in the cabin she did not answer. Well no doc in mail today I am going to call for sure mon and see if they are on their way.

 

[lenzs4]

This is my families first Disney Cruise. We are all very excited. I teach kindergarten in Chandler, AZ. My kiddos are 4 and 7. After the cruise we plan to spend the 4th in DL. We go to DL yearly - but never in the summer and never on a holiday - what was I thinking this year??!!
Shirley

 

[AUDREY BELCHER]

Well our group is really growing now and I hope we can all meet up and atleast say hello on the first day. Did we want to plan other get togethers during the cruise? Does everyone know about the green mickey heads? Well it is a very hot day here in Saugus, Californial. I am looking forward in hearing how things go on the magic on the next week. But we will get the real low down on the MAY 28 cruise as they will be doing the first 7 day cruise.

 

[lenzs4]

Green Mickey Heads? IS that a location on the ship?

 

[Pineapple]

Cheryl,

Yeah, I can understand the kids getting bored. You reminiscing and your kids wondering what's the big deal

I think I'm leaning towards rules for my daughter like you. She is a pretty good kid and will follow instructions. Going between the club and cabin is what I may allow if she can show me that she knows her way around the ship. No roaming alone. She is just starting to show signs of being a teen ager and wanting to break away from her parents. We'll see how well she controls herself.

How well do those FRS radios work on the ship? With all the steel, I would think signals would have a hard time making it to all the decks. There are ways to allow radio signals to pass to other decks but I don't know if the Disney ships are set up for something like that.

Cliff

 

[jlima]

I started a thread on the main cruise board but wanted to tell everybody to keep an eye out for your documents; I got mine last Friday!!

 

[disneyndodgerfans]

Pizzie,
We will have to get our girls together. My dd, Riley is 5 1/2. <---She would kill me if I didn't put the 1/2 in there. Will you be going down on Saturday to see the ship? I can't wait!

 

[disneyndodgerfans]

Well our group is really growing now and I hope we can all meet up and atleast say hello on the first day. Did we want to plan other get togethers during the cruise? Does everyone know about the green mickey heads? Well it is a very hot day here in Saugus, Californial. I am looking forward in hearing how things go on the magic on the next week. But we will get the real low down on the MAY 28 cruise as they will be doing the first 7 day cruise.

Hey Audrey! I think it would be great if we could meet on the first day...and please tell me what the green mickey heads are because I have no idea!

 

[AUDREY BELCHER]

the walkie talkie redio work fine make sure if you get on you have upper channals A lot of people will have them and if you can get on a clear chanal you will be ok Well Sat is almost here and the ship will be here. Did you read that boys to men will performing tomorrow night. I wonder if we will have any special acts. I saw a picture of CMS they looked very nice. Well I better go to bed now we have a lot of end of school programs happening this week. still no docs if I can remember I will call TA tomorrow and ask when they are going to be mailed out.

 

[llachance]

They're HERE! Just got a call from my significant other and UPS just dropped off our documents! It will be hard to work this afternoon thinking about it....and this is my third cruise. I am as excited as I was for the first one!

 

[got2gp]

Hey all,

Congrats to all who have gotten your docs!! None here yet. Welcome Shirley! The more the merrier.

We used walkie talkies on our cruise last year, on the Voyager of the Seas. The only time they worked was when we were not very far away, like just down the hall. All that metal does get in the way of a clear siginal, but of course the Voyager is a masive ship. We will be bringing them on this trip, but may not use them much, or at all.

The green Mickey head that Audrey was talking about is a DIS thing. They are a way of identifing yourself as a DISer. People pick up the free Mickey head shaped Disney paint chips at Home Depot, the Alien Green ones, and make pins, luggage tags and signs with them. I picked up a handful myself. I peeled off the paint chip, stuck two together with double stick tape, laminated them and punched a hole in them. Instant luggage tag! I'm picking some more up this weekend and will be experimenting some more to see what I can make.

Cliff, I know what you mean about kids becoming teens. I've got one and one on the verge. They are both good kids, if fact dd is pratically an , at least that's what she tells me. It is hard to let go, but I think it gets easier as they prove themselves to be responsible and relatively mature.

Audrey, sent you a pm. We really should get together before the cruise since we are so close. What do ya think? What is it, like 31 day to go?


Cheryl

 

[AUDREY BELCHER]

No docs yet I keep forgetting to call TA to see if she has mailed them out yet we still have a month as of tomorrow. I am going to fill out all my forms on line soon I have the kids signed up for the club and reservations made.
Cheryl i send you a PM also I hope you got it can't wait for us get together.
dh is off to AZ again tomorrow so I won't have to worry about dinner. I hope loved all the post about the ships trip thru the canal and they will be in one of our ports tomorrow and thur. I only wish that we would be getting to see boys to men. They keep saying that have something special planned for the LA CRUISES so we will just have to wait and see.

 

[PizzieDuster]

Cheryl:

Well, things have changed here. It looks like my DS12 will make All Stars and wants - is begging to stay home. They always do loads of fun things, everyday the team plans a trip - water park, beach, mini golf, swim parties, fishing, and h is nightly telling me he wants to stay home with his dad (my ex). So that's up in the air... I'm dealing with that now.

DODGERFAN! Ohmy gosh, that would be the most ideal thing! To get the girls to meet someone --may make the whole difference of the trip. So they won't be so shy at first :angel And to have someone to lay by when they watch movies on their matts, that's cool too.

My daughter, Lacey, is 6. She LUUUVVS having friends. This is our 3rd DCL cruise. She just had the best time last year at 5. We couldn't get her out of the club! It was great

This cruise is so perfect for lil girls (and everyone else)

I'm getting a little paranoid though, about sailing out of a new port. I don't know what to expect. I'm wanting to have my parents drop us off but I'm worried because no one has been there yet. So I can't WAIT for the 5/28 cuisers to educate us all those details, excursions, etc.

Makes me a lil nervous...I'll feel better after hearing from the 5/28 cruisers.

Are you watching the ship come in on 5/28? We will be in Vegas this Memorial Day week end. I have a DS15 who goes to Mater Dei and a group of some baseball parents are making a fun trip to celebrate the ending of baseball

 

[AUDREY BELCHER]

Well I have looked around other sites on the web as to what each port has to offer and am going to copy it and let my DD read them before we go. I think that we are still going to just go to the hotels which have pools and are on the beach. I have taken this mexican riviera cruise before and we took taxi around each port. We have a 4 yr old and 10 yr old and that will not due this time. some of the tours sound great but I think we will just pass this trip. I think with 3 sea days I LOVE sea days. Don't be concern about the port I am sure that disney will have their same boarding and disboarding processing they have the best if you have cruised with disney before you know what I mean you are just in Calif instead of Florida. I will miss going thru the ears. Getting on the ship the first day is always very exciteing to me. I don't want to give it away how it goes if you have not seen it before it is very exciteing. I am looking forward in meeting everyone and it won't be long now.

 

[got2gp]

Does anyone know whether we will be docked at the Mex Riv ports or will we need to tender in? We have tendered before and somtimes it can be quiet a wait. It took us a good 45 minutes, maybe more, to get ashore in Catalina once. Normally not a big deal, just wondering. It may determine if we chose to come back to eat on board or in just stay in port.

I'm impatiently waiting for more info from those first couple of cruises as well. Am so curious to see what they have in store for us.

Cheryl