Lot's and Lot's of questions

[feiste]

First of all let me say thank you to everyone here who does a great job passing out so much information for all of the newbies around here. We are getting ready for our first cruise, and as such I have been doing a lot of research on your board. However, this seems to have brought about more questions. I would appreciate any and all help. We are a group of ten - 2 grandparents, 4 parents, and 4 girls ages 7 to 2 1/2, travelling on the Eastern cruise in late February. Here are the topics I am still looking for answers on :

1) Pagers - when are these given out, and to whom? Are they only for use while kids are in activities, or do you get to keep them the entire time you are on board?

2) Walkie Talkies vs Two way radios - (ready for a dumb question?) are these the same thing? Does one have a better reception/range than the other? I am a time management challenged person, and I think that this is a great idea for keeping in touch with everyone on ports of call days. However, I don't want to spend the money if they won't work for the purpose I intend (Probably someone calling to tell me to get back to the boat before it sails off without me!) Does anyone have any reccomendations, and/or price ranges here?

3)We will be starting off from a private home just outside Orlando. Any suggestions on taking our own cars vs a shuttle service? With ten of us going we will need to take two cars, so parking should run around $140, correct? Is it possible to find a shuttle in this price range?

4)How many pins do you suggest starting out with so that 6 and 7 year old girls can enjoy this activity? Any in particular that are popular?

5)What is a lanyard?

6)How do you collect DVC points? Do you need to join a club? Is there a cost for this?

7)Kids can play Bingo? Are they required to buy a full cars, or is this at a discount?

8)How long are you allowed to be off the ship on the port days? Again we are on the Eastern cruise.

9) The most important of all (ha-ha) how much are those yummy sounding Malibu Colada's I saw someone write about?

Thanks again in advance for any advice that you are able to give!

 

[The4OfUs]

Originally posted by feiste

6)How do you collect DVC points? Do you need to join a club? Is there a cost for this?

Yay! One I can answer! You don't collect DVC points, you purchase them, and by doing so, become an owner at the Disney Vacation Club. We're owners, with our home resort being Old Key West. It's "timeshare", but better, as you use points to choose where and when to stay, vs. buying a certain place or a certain week of the year...

 

[MO Disney cruiser]

Hopefully I can answer a couple.

1) Pagers, they are given out when you sign up the child for the Club/Lab. You keep them throughout the cruise. You return them the last day.

5) Lanyard, it is a necklace type thing that you can keep your KTTW card in. You can find them inexpensively at Walmart in the jewelry section. These work wonderful.

7) Bingo, kids can play, but they can not claim the prize. An adult must do that. No discount for kids

8) Being of the ship in port varies by port. Your cruise documents will state what times the ship sails. You can also check any of the travel websites and they tell you the approximate time of arrival and departure. Do not miss the ships departure. They will not wait for you

Hope this helps. Happy sailing

 

[jel0511]

I'll answer what I can...

5)What is a lanyard?

It's a fabric necklace of sorts that has a plastic holder on the end to hold your KTTW card. Also, the fabric is wide enough to place your pins on for trading. A lot of people wear them this way. They're available in the shops aboard the ship.

6)How do you collect DVC points? Do you need to join a club? Is there a cost for this?

DVC is the timeshare arm of WDW. You need to purchase the points to get them, they aren't free and can't be collected.

7)Kids can play Bingo? Are they required to buy a full cars, or is this at a discount?

Chilcren can only play bingo with an adult present, since they aren't allowed to purchase the cards, or claim any prize that is won. There is no discount, same price for everyone, since basically it's only open to adults.

8)How long are you allowed to be off the ship on the port days? Again we are on the Eastern cruise.

You're allowed off the ship for any length of time the ship is in port. So, if the ship allows passengers off at 9AM, you can get off at your leisure any time after that. You just have to be back on board usually 30 minutes prior to the sail off time. You can leave and reboard the ship as many times as you like while in port, but just have to be sure you're on board before the ship sails. The ship won't wait for you, unless you're on a DCL sponsored excursion.

 

[Luckymommyx2]

I'll answer as many as I can for you...

1) One pager is given out per child to the parent(s) that signs the child up at the beginning of the cruise. You keep the pager the entire cruise. I'm not sure of the cut-off age when it comes to parents that get pagers for their children. Maybe someone can chime in on that one.

2) Sorry can't help you with...never used them on the ship but I'm sure others have on these boards.

3) I would check into a towncar company and get quotes for a van then compare it to the cost of parking. Try Fl Tours, Caritertowncar, Happy Limo. They are pretty popular among some of us.

4) Can't help you with that one, sorry!

5) A lanyard it a necklace type strap that has a clip that you can carry keys or if you have a hole puncher maybe your KTTW card. You can also stick your pins on them to trade with others.

6) Disney Vacation Club...don't know much about the points but would be interested in hearing more about this one myself.

7) My kids were too young for BINGO so I don't know about this one either.

8) This depends on the port, just make sure you allow plenty of time to get back to the ship and check in! Don't forget that depending on the itinerary that you may be in a different time zone.

9) I think I missed something very yummy sounding...hummm!

Hope this helps and some other DIS'ers can help fill in the missing blanks here. Welcome aboard!!

 

[tkd lisa]

I'll try to tackle some that haven't been answered.

2) Walkie Talkies vs Two way radios - I'm not technical enough to really be sure if there's a difference, but most people here are probably using the two names interchangably. When I think of walkie talkies I think of something I buy in the toy department and when I think 2 way radios, I think electronics. Most of the two way radios are a 2 mile range limitation but some are 5 miles. That range is certainly subject to interpretation, since it appears to be based on a clear line of sight with little interference. I wouldn't rely on it if I were more than 1 mile from my other party. Some of them have sub-channels and they seem to have fewer people on the "party line". I bought a set in 2002 of Motorolas. They have something like 14 channels, but no subchannels, and they were the 2 mile range. At home, they work well for that 2 miles. On the ship, they worked best when we didn't have multiple decks between us (metal seems to cause interference). At WDW, they worked well within a park, but there are LOTS of people on them (How many "mommy, are you there?" did I answer? Too many to count!!) I think I spent about $40.


3)Shuttle: I agree, price out the options listed by luckymommy. I wouldn't pay to park unless it was cheaper.

4)Pins. I bought 3-4 for my kids thinking that they'd get into this. They didn't. If you are going to do this, I'd keep an eye out for sales at your local Disney store. They get lost kind of easily, and $6 down the drain makes my pocket book hurt!

5-7 have been answered mostly. I think Bingo costs $12 for a "3 play card" or $5 for a single play card. There are something like 6 or 7 games on the card, and you can't split the card up (i.e. you can't buy a 3 card and have 3 different people play).
8)www.castawayclub.com has navigators from many eastern cruises. Check them and there will be typical all aboard and all ashore times listed.

Have a great time!

 

[HooKooDooKu]

Walkie Talkies vs Two way radios

Today, the two are pretty much used interchangable because you can buy FRS (Family Radio Service) radios for as cheap as toy Walkie Talkies used to cost (and today's FRS radio's are much better than those toy walkie talkies).

As "tdk lisa" indicated, these radios are pretty much limited to line-of-sight. Once you start getting behind buildings (or between decks) range is EXTREAMLY iffy. While in WDW, we had to stay relatively close to each other for the radios to work (i.e. if you were on opposite sides of the park, they wouldn't work). We've been as close as 100 yards apart, but reception was spotty because there were two buildings between us. They are, however, awsome for two cars travelling together to say in touch (as you are almost always line-of-sight from each other).

FRS radios are easy to come by (Best Buy, Wal Mart, Circuit City, and of course Radio Shack). At least in the U.S., no license is needed and children are allowed to use them.

The radio's have 14 channels and about 40 codes. The codes work by sending a "hidden" signal each time you transmit. Other radios on the same channel will not respond to your signal unless they are on the same code. However, if two groups are using the same channel with different codes, they will still hear each other if they try to talk at the same time.

A new bread of radios have been comming out call GMRS (General Mobil Radio Service). These radios usually have a higher power and therefore greater range than FRS radios, but to use them legally, you must obtain an FCC license ($75 for 5 years) and they can only be used by adults (18 and over). This new bread of radio also includes some versions that are both FRS/GMRS.

 

[bassoongirl]

feiste,

I have a question for you - Are you on the Feb. 21 Eastern Cruise? If you are, you should check out our thread on the Cruise Meet forum. We are a fun bunch! There are several families going on our cruise who are traveling with young children and grandparents, just like you. There is also a Yahoo group set up for the people going on our cruise where we exchange more personal information, the times for DIS meets on the ship and photos. If you'd like to check it out, you can find the web address on our Feb. 21 cruise thread.

By the way, I live in Plymouth!

bassoongirl