KC's Western POST trip report 4/19-4/26

[Hypermommy]

I keep wishing but quite honestly, we'd have to hit the lottery to be able to take another cruise next year. I can't honestly understand how folks can afford to do it every year. We didn't even have to pay the $XXXX.XX (literally four digits) to actually get on the boat, and still it was soooo expensive. I do hope to cruise again someday but I know it won't be anytime really soon. And I think the next multithousand dollar vacation we take will have to be to the parks. I really, really miss them. I haven't been since December 07 and I'm having withdrawals and constantly trying to figure out a way to get down there. But then again, cruising was sooooo much fun too.

Arrrgggggghhhhhh.... just need to win that lotto, that's all there is to it

 

[purplepeg]

Dreams do come true, dreams do come true, dreams do come true Do you think if you said that enough times you'd win the lottery? My sister actually works with someone who did win just over 4 million$ in the lottery Apparently it's not all it's cracked up to be although I would like to see that for myself thank you very much

Well the parks are always lots of fun and maybe if you made a plan like for your 25th anniversary or something for a next cruise. If it doesn't happen again you guys did it up right, and you were a princess for your birthday (29 wasn't it?) and had your own KC to make the ball special

 

[Hypermommy]

Dreams do come true, dreams do come true, dreams do come true Do you think if you said that enough times you'd win the lottery? My sister actually works with someone who did win just over 4 million$ in the lottery Apparently it's not all it's cracked up to be although I would like to see that for myself thank you very much

Well the parks are always lots of fun and maybe if you made a plan like for your 25th anniversary or something for a next cruise. If it doesn't happen again you guys did it up right, and you were a princess for your birthday (29 wasn't it?) and had your own KC to make the ball special

Yeah, me too -- I know they say that money doesn't bring happiness but I would sure like to give that a try for myself.

Yep, it was the 21st anniversary of my 21st birthday.

And speaking of birthdays -- guess whose birthday today is? Yep, our very own King Charming. I won't say exactly which birthday it is, but let's just say he remembers his father getting a new color television set! Y'all take a moment to wish the old geezer -- er, I mean, handsome and adorable and wonderful (oh, Lord... now that head's gonna swell for sure) King a marvelous birthday!!!!

 

[tksbaskets]

Happy Birthday KC!

 

[King Charming]

Thank you all, it's good to be old.

I've been writting now most every day since last Christmas, when we won this great trip. I've had alot of fun with it, but now it's time to fade away. A few of my goals and objectives for these reports have been met, some have not. Even though the previously listed reasons for writting this were true, they were not the only reasons. It really was nice to be one of the most popular passengers on board (even if I wasn't formally elected). I was flattered to have so many people shake my hand and tell me they enjoyed reading the PRE TR, and had been looking forward to meeting DW and I. I had also hoped that popularity would translate into drinks/perks/upgrades, which did not happen. Writting a PTR is a great way to intro yourself to your fellow cruisers, especially if you have a different approach or an interesting perspective.

And with a tear in my eye, I'm sad to say no one has taken me up on my offer to write another spellbinding TR on their dime. Lord knows I'd love to get back on that ship again next month if I could, but my wallet refuses to discuss it. I can live with a future that does not include me becoming a travel writter, or even going on other free vacations out of the country. I'm sure it would have been fun.

I'd like to think I covered most aspects of the costs involved. Alot of mine were minimum (tips, photos, spa), or could have been MUCH higher with just a little effort (shopping, booze, non DCL excursions). If you still haven't spent enough, there are plenty of ways to do it at DCL. They have many packages/tours/tastings, concierge level adds a new round of tips, and DVC is always on the prowl for 'points lovers'. There are so many different ways to spend thousands of dollars AFTER you have bought your tickets.

Including shopping in port and formal duds, I'm sure I ran over $4K. One day soon I'll go back to the PRE TR cost spreadsheet and compare it to the actual bills that are still arriving. I'll then post it to give you a detailed list of my actual vs anticipated costs.

Having bought passports, future vacation destinations have become limitless. Do you think anybody would be interested in a pre trippie about adding Paris to our Disney been there's?

 

[MassDisLovers]

Happy Birthday Jim! (Since it's your birthday I thought I should use your real name! ) Hope you had a happy day

Meg graduates from high school tomorrow - we're up to our ears in party preparation and the MIL arrived yesterday for "a while"

Hope all is well in Tallahassee! MA is finally warming up - it might really be spring, just in time for it to be summer!

Karen

 

[purplepeg]

Happy Birthday KC Hey I remember my parents getting a color tv and first show we watched on it was The Little Rascals ( in black and white)

 

[DisneyDavO]

Happy birthday Jim I too remember our first color tv, and Im only 41, so you cant be that old! (of course we were the last family in Philadelphia to get one though!)

Dave

 

[rala]

Happy Birthday Jim
best wishes from Germany. Have a great day.

Marion & Michael

 

[AddictedtoMickey]

Happy Birthday KC...great trip reports!!!

Frank

 

[goofygal1975]

What a great trip report! I sat here all evening yesterday reading your trip report. I'm not feeling so good...so I settled in, got comfy and read your TR. (I did take a nap in between..lol) I really enjoyed reading about your trip and seeing all your pictures. The one with your two ds all dressed up came out great!! And the two formal/semi-formal pictures of all of you was wonderful!!

Thanks for sharing your trip with us!!

 

[King Charming]

Oh no, I went and done it good this time. Someone please help me clean my shoes and help me understand why I did such a thing. For all the grousing about how much it all costs, I still booked another Magic adventure. The $ 4,450.00 we spent for pre, during, and post cruise expenses floored me, but I think this next time it'll be MUCH less because we won't be trying to do it all.

Seems the cruise bug bite I got last April had lingering side effects. Not content with waiting for another 'free' cruise offer, we prefer a double dip. Sure, it's a little more expensive than the regular western, but compared to the costof the Christmas 09 cruise I inquired about, it is darn near reasonable. I had visited half off cruise sites and the like to try and find a less costly option, but kept thinking back to the great time we had, even though we missed so much. Like the parks, a return engagement is demanded.

Now my wallet got wind of Mickey whispering in my ear and about had a fit. 'You promised' it screamed at me. Well, thats why I didn't go for any of those lesser cruises. "And 2008 is out, no way'! But 2009's vacation budget hasn't been spoken for, and if we add in what we might have spent in 2010 & 11 for vacations, we shold be able to do this; but not anytime soon. So a check of itineraries showed a western double dip mid Nov 09 and I was again hooked. Fifteen months of pre trip report I won't bother you with, but it will be interesting making payments on a dream. Knowing I won't spend $400 again on passports, or many hundreds more on formal clothes or fancy excursions (these 3 totaled about a third of my costs) has given me the courage to try this on my own. Staying in a Cat 11 room should help us keep the grand total under $6K.

So a new adventure is planned, as is a trip report covering it. With luck the time will pass not too quickly and we will enjoy another fabulous week with the Magic. Until then...

 

[CRSNDSNY]

That's awesome! Congrats on your booking....it'll be here before you know it! And I look forward to your TR...you and your wife are fun to read about!

 

[MassDisLovers]

Congrats, KC. You must have racked up major points with this one! Denise, I need to know your secret.....HOW did you manage to get him to agree to this???

 

[Hypermommy]

Well, since this is a family oriented board I guess I shouldn't get into the specifics but let's just say that it involved a magical moment or two.



And yes, he racked up some seriously major points. But the best part of it all is that

 

[MassDisLovers]

You go girl!

 

[AddictedtoMickey]

That's great Hypermommy (and KC)!

Since our last cruise, I've been planning the next one. We booked onboard and may or may not move our cruise to April 2010, when they come out. We're booked right now for the St. Croix Eastern in Dec. 2009. A double dip would be great. My wife likes Castaway Cay best. However, I'm nervous about the weather in the Bahamas during the Fall/winter. We'll see.

 

[Hypermommy]

It's really late August through October'ish (I think) that you need to worry about. We're doing November because by then things will have settled down.

 

[AddictedtoMickey]

I'm not worried about hurricanes, I was more concerned about tanning weather

Although I haven't really checked that closely, have you looked at the temps that time of year? It would be fun to plan another trip together again!!

 

[King Charming]

OK, so maybe I will bore you with another PTR. It seems that Hypermommy wanted to jump into one and has dragged me kicking and screaming back to the keyboard. It should be easy to find as she posts often. So please join us on another attempt at being vote the MOST POPULAR passengers .