Magic Christmas Cruise 2010 (Dec 18th - 29th) - PART II

[itutorfortravel]

Getting so excited!! Just booked DH a Swedish massage and the exotic Rezul for the both of us....not completely sure I understand what it is..........
Also ordered two different baskets from Shirley. 1 for the big boys and 1 for the little ones. I think the kids will be so excited when they see the card signed "Mickey and the Gang". It's getting so close. We are heading to MI for Thanksgiving. Once we get back we'll only have 3 weeks until we leave again!!

Hi Eve, if you are still interested in meeting before the cruise, let me know! I'll bet we've run into each other somewhere around town and don't even know it - ha ha!

Kimberly

 

[jenedpey]

It looks like I will be canceling my morning excursions on Martinique. Looks as though the shops will only be open until 12-1pm because of Christmas eve.

Thanks for checking into this. We just swapped our excursion (Little Train)from the morning to the afternoon since things will be closing at lunch time.

 

[DVC4US]

HARRY POTTER WAS AWESOME!!!!!!!

Feeling a little sleep deprived at the moment and it was freezing but the movie was great! A little dark and scary but that's to be expected. But the humor balanced it out. If you haven't read the book it might be a little confusing at times but not too bad. DD hasn't read the book but in the end she figured everything out. They cut it off at a good point too.

If I don't have time to check back in before then, I will be back on when we stop for the night.

 

[DVC4US]

Was off line yesterday - finally succumbed to the kids crud - and everyone posted so much! Angie - great pictures, now I will recognize you. !!

I am so excited - is anyone is our group on the suites or higher cats? I know in the past people did state room tours. I would love to peak inside and see how the other half lives...

By the way, I am congratulating myself on my illness timing. We will have it all done for Thanksgiving - I don't dare mention getting sick on the boat...

I am going to use our long Thanksgiving weekend to get 100% ready. I have loaded up the Kindle at least.

We are staying behind in the parks fro NYE, but we have heard such horror stores about the crowds, that we don't know if we will go to the park. We are not scared of crowds or anything, but people on the regular boards said the parks can close at 11, and then after that, Fast Passes can take 5 hours to get on the ride. And, everything is so crowded you can't do anything but sit for hours. Has any one else experienced this? Kathleen

Kathleen,

Hope you are feeling better today. We are in a Cat 3 and if you want to take a peek just track me down some time.(Anyone else too!) We have had a Cat 1 twice in the past and we did an "open suite" both times which was a lot of fun but it is harder in the Cat 3. Wish we had the Cat 1 for this cruise but no such luck.

 

[Three at Sea]

Tea with Alice is literally a tea party with characters from Alice in Wonderland. The Mad Hatter is there, singing a "very merry un-birthday". Sometimes Wendy from Peter Pan is there too. It is billed as a "posh-yet-casual afternoon snack just for families" Afternoon service includes iced tea and cookies, and lessons in proper etiquette for hosting a tea party.

You can register once on board.

That sounds fun! Where abouts do you register once on board? Is there a registration desk or something? What other activities are there that you can't book in advance? I've heard of the wine tastings and beer tastings but are there others? Do you sign up for all of these things at the same desk once aboard? Thanks in advance for the info!

 

[Three at Sea]

Yes, we still have room for 2 more. If you would PM me with your names, reservation number, and cabin number, I will add you guys to the list.

Awesome, thanks - sorry, how do I PM you?

 

[Three at Sea]

Is anyone else headed to Walt Disney World after the cruise to celebrate New Year's Eve? I don't think we will make it until midnight with a 5 year old but it should be a lot of fun since she has never been to any Disney park.

We are going to go to WDW the 29th and the 31st. On the 30th we are going to Universal Studios so I can see all the new Harry Potter stuff!!

Yes, we're going to WDW for 5 days after the cruise - it must sound shameful but we will be doing EPCOT on Dec 31 to ensure we can have a few drinks to celebrate....it is New Year's after all! LOL

 

[Three at Sea]

What types of gifts is everyone giving their stateroom hosts and servers for XMAS? Price range? Or should we just add this to their tips?

Thanks

Are there certain items that the crew usually can't get that would be appreciated as a gift? I heard Godiva chocolate - others?

 

[mickeyteachers]

I finally remember you. You had the Walt Suite and you had open house. Your husband and you even had refreshments. I think if I remember correctly your husband is a doctor. Am I close?

 

[Three at Sea]

If anyone is still looking for a last minute tuxedo or suit, I bought my DH an Italian tux from overstock.com for about $125! That is cheaper than renting one from the Disney Formal Wear. It arrived last week and it is very good quality. They also have some nice suits for $75. DH doesn't have a lot of dressy clothes but we love to dress up and $200 for two suits is a bargain!

 

[Three at Sea]

By the way, did I mention how super excited I am? Seriously, I never get very excited about anything!! I think the whole FE thing, and talking to you all really makes it even more fun to count down!

You and me both! I am at the point where I can't sleep without dreaming of disney and the cruise. The pathetic thing is that I have a business trip to the UK in two weeks and I'm not even really thinking about it much. I've wanted to visit London for ages, and I'll even have a bit of time to myself to head to Salisbury to go to Stonehenge, which is so amazing an opportunity, but the Disney Cruise dancing in my head is overriding everything else right now - what is wrong with me?!?

 

[3princessMommy]

Husband-Patrick
48
English Teacher and Web Page Design Teacher for 15 years
Masters Degree in Education
Former Fire Chief
Born and raised in California.
Loves Disney but not as much as I do. He really loves Hawaii.
Huge Nebraska Husker fan. Cannot miss one football game.
7th Disney Cruise. 3rd Christmas Cruise.

Kathy
48 years old
Technology Teacher and Reading Teacher for 23 years. College Instructor for three years.
Loves Loves Loves Loves Disney
7th Disney Cruise
3rd Christmas Cruise
Graduated from the University of Nebraska. Go Big Red. Loves football.
Masters Degree in Education.
Born and raised in Nebraska. Lived in California for 24 years.

I lived in Bellevue, NE from age 10 till I graduated from high school! I was married there too before Mom and Dad moved to TX.

I just saw this over on the main forum -- how cool!

Disney will offer guests the use of "Portable Wave Phones" on board the ships of the Disney Cruise Line starting in December (December 16th on the Disney Wonder; December 18th on the Disney Magic.) The portable phones can send and receive phone calls and text messages from other Wave phones when used on board the ship or on Castaway Cay. The phones do not work off the ship, and it doesn't sound like they can work with other carriers - you can use the device to call other Wave Phones on Disney's network, but not to call home.

Each stateroom will come equipped with two of the phones; concierge staterooms come with four phones. There is currently no charge to use the service, but you can rent additional units for $3.50 per unit per day if you need more than come with your room. There is a $250 charge per unit if they are lost / stolen / damaged, so that's something to consider before handing them to your pool-bound kids.

Disney is planning to use these phones to replace the pager system currently used by the Youth Activities department, which means that one parent/guardian must carry the unit at all times. If you don't have kids in Youth Programming and you don't want to use the phones, you can turn them in and Disney will turn off the service for your stateroom for the cruise.

So does anyone know what these look like? Are they small enough to put in a pocket? Can you put them on a lanyard?

Last night when shopping DD and I drove by this kids club service in our town where you can drop off your kids and go shop or see a movie, etc. We use it from time to time - it's a great option to have. This led to a discussion of kids' clubs in general and I asked her what her favorite kids club has been over our various vacations. She said without hesitation, Disney. (thank goodness)

So, I pushed it a bit and asked her if she thought she'd be too old for the DCL kids club now and she said, "no, I won't be too old because I'll hang out in the teen club." I said, trying not to laugh, "You're 9, you won't be hanging out in the teen club." she started laughing and said yes she would, then we both got to cracking up.

I can't wait to spring this surprise on her. And apparently I'll need everyone's help to keep her out of the teen club.

Our DD9 will not be going anywhere near the teen club! Let's get them together and they can hang in the Lab for the cruise!

Am I the only one not doing the docs OR dress dance??!

Us too...It'll probably take another week or so for them to get to us. Maybe we can be in a race for the last ones to receive docs?

I guess they can't show Harry Potter!

HARRY POTTER WAS AWESOME!!!!!!!

Feeling a little sleep deprived at the moment and it was freezing but the movie was great! A little dark and scary but that's to be expected. But the humor balanced it out. If you haven't read the book it might be a little confusing at times but not too bad. DD hasn't read the book but in the end she figured everything out. They cut it off at a good point too.

If I don't have time to check back in before then, I will be back on when we stop for the night.

Too scary/dark for a 9 year old who has read the book??? Where did they cut it???

I was only gone two days and you guys went 10 pages!!! I can't wait to meet everyone - this is going to be ONE ACTIVE ship!

 

[miatamel]

For those of you still shopping for your children's dresses, zulily is an online discount children's boutique by invitation only. Today has some great "shops" and the one called Sweetheart Rose has some party dresses. Here's your invite:
http://www.zulily.com/invite/mplum216

Still recovering from my midnight movie viewing. I'm not a Potter purist, but the movie was very good! Dark, intense, brooding and never felt like 2.5 hours.

 

[colkath2005]

:Talking of the teen club my ds13 is hoping they will let in him the stack (or whatever it is now) instead of ocean quest(or whatever it is now). I have warned him that he is not old enough but he seems to think he was told he would be allowed in when we last cruised.
Anyone have experience of this?
I have decided not to do the gift baskets now.I just think with christmas coming up I will put together my own for christmas day insted.
Colette

 

[Three at Sea]

You and me both! I am at the point where I can't sleep without dreaming of disney and the cruise. The pathetic thing is that I have a business trip to the UK in two weeks and I'm not even really thinking about it much. I've wanted to visit London for ages, and I'll even have a bit of time to myself to head to Salisbury to go to Stonehenge, which is so amazing an opportunity, but the Disney Cruise dancing in my head is overriding everything else right now - what is wrong with me?!?

And the other thing that is killing me is that our DD9 does not know about the trip! We are keeping it a surprise. We are having an extended family Christmas dinner on Dec 12, which is when we are going to tell her. We bought her a new set of luggage which we'll wrap and put under the tree. When she opens the suitcase, there will be Pirate Princess ears with her name embrodiered on the back (I bought this in Disneyland California in March as we've been booked since way back then), and I've made a sign to stick on the bottom of the suitcase (see attached). I am having trouble not spilling the beans. I could use some advice on how to keep my mouth shut, but Dec 12 is so far away! Is anyone else having this problem????

 

[momssurprise]

And the other thing that is killing me is that our DD9 does not know about the trip! We are keeping it a surprise. We are having an extended family Christmas dinner on Dec 12, which is when we are going to tell her. We bought her a new set of luggage which we'll wrap and put under the tree. When she opens the suitcase, there will be Pirate Princess ears with her name embrodiered on the back (I bought this in Disneyland California in March as we've been booked since way back then), and I've made a sign to stick on the bottom of the suitcase (see attached). I am having trouble not spilling the beans. I could use some advice on how to keep my mouth shut, but Dec 12 is so far away! Is anyone else having this problem????

I booked the first week of October and kept it a secret from DH for a month. Our DD does not know. We are waiting to tell her the evening of Dec. 16 - we leave town on the 17th. We occassionally make some slip ups - and I've pushed it a bit (eg, what's your favorite kids' club?) - but I'm having fun with the secret. And it cuts down on the questions...plus she's going to be so shocked! DH is thinking maybe we don't tell her until we wake her up early on the 17th - but I have scheduled a Mickey call and I want to give her a chance to pack a few things she'll want on the cruise.

There are some other families surprising their kids with this cruise.

 

[momssurprise]

And the other thing that is killing me is that our DD9 does not know about the trip! We are keeping it a surprise. We are having an extended family Christmas dinner on Dec 12, which is when we are going to tell her. We bought her a new set of luggage which we'll wrap and put under the tree. When she opens the suitcase, there will be Pirate Princess ears with her name embrodiered on the back (I bought this in Disneyland California in March as we've been booked since way back then), and I've made a sign to stick on the bottom of the suitcase (see attached). I am having trouble not spilling the beans. I could use some advice on how to keep my mouth shut, but Dec 12 is so far away! Is anyone else having this problem????

Sorry -- our DD is 9 also. 4th grade.

 

[momssurprise]

I've been trying to work form home this am until the TA opens. Now I'm off to go get them and then to work!

 

[Three at Sea]

OK- let me be clear. We are all 3 years older, and I am some pounds heavier than this. At least you will all recognize us on the ship. Both are taken on pirate night- once in costume, once in Caribbean dress. This year we have red and black Caribbean outfits in true holiday celebration.

Awesome pics! How do we attach images to the board? Would love to share my 'announcement' surprise sign!

 

[thegales]

Things may have changed in the reservation process for the Tea, but in the past it was not a big deal to get the reservations.

It used to be Tea with Wendy, but now it is with Alice.

In the Navigator, there was a time to go to Guest Services to get tickets. It was not on day 1, but a few days before the actual tea. Ask the person who checks you in at the port if this has changed. It would be no fun to wait in a line at Guest Services to find out that you can't get your tickets until later.

At the appointed time, we got the tickets from Guest Services. There was not any type of mad dash to be there first, nor was there any type of line.

At the time of the Tea, they let the people with tickets in first, then they opened it up to others who did not have tickets. I think the only reason for the tickets is to keep too many people from having to stand in line for too long.

It was in Studio Sea, and as others have said, they serve tea and cookies. I sat in the back with another dad. If I recall, the server came over to us and asked if we wanted anything else to drink.

It is a fun event for the kids. Nothing to stress over for trying to get the tickets and a good seat.