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

[ReggieB]

Wow, just booked my things. Didn't get my Palo brunch for the date I wanted, and 1 excursion. Never seen that before. I guess I have been super lucky in the past. No worries though. I did get a brunch and 2nd choice excursion, so we'll work that!! Intresting to see how competative it is at 90 days, 75 is not going to be fun...

 

[3princessMommy]

Hi all!

Rick and Lori here from Orlando.

We just emailed our TA to book us on this cruise! We did the Wonder for Christmas last year and had a great time.

Hi Everyone,

DH are considering joining this cruise now. Just worried about the kids being away from home for Christmas. But I think this looks like a FAB. cruise to take...........

Hi all.

My family will be on this holiday cruise and boy, am I psyched to spend the holidays on a ship rather than at home worried about replacing light bulbs on the tree and in-law issues

My husband and I have 3 kids-- girl 12, girl 9.5, boy 7.5. This is our first holiday away from home. Yippee!!!

See y'all on board!

~Tracy

Just joined this cruise as well, couldnt pass up the florida resident offer and onboard credits. Going thru the excersion options right now.

DH - Shaun
DW - Jen
DD - Jordan(Age 6)
DD - Savannah (Age 4)

Hi everyone!

I've been lurking on this thread for a long time now. We finally booked our cruise yesterday!!!!!! It will be me, DH and DD1 (20) and DD2 (17).

Well ... just thought I'd come out of the shadows and introduce myself.

We are so excited!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Egors & Tinknsnow: We have DDs 9 and 6 too. They've been chatting with a couple other girls too. Send me a PM if you'd like to get your girls together via e-mail before the cruise.

Thanks, we are seriously considering it......

Are you going to leave gifts at home to open when you arrive back at home??

Is it to late to get signed up for the FE exchange??

My parents used to take pictures (or cut them out of magazines/catalogs) of our presents and then wrap them in small jewelry boxes when we traveled for Christmas. This is what we will probably do with our kids this year. This way they get what they've asked for, but you don't have to pack it, and they get to unwrap something on Christmas morning!

 

[Pooh's Pals]

We were up at 5 am here but we managed to get everything we wanted including Palo brunch and spa treatments Connection wasn't too slow either.

Welcome to all those who have recently joined the cruise

 

[BBQMommy]

Welcome!

We've got a DD6 (firat day of cruise birthday), too She'll be happy to hear that there'll be more kids her age on the boat.

Another mad dasher to get Palo ressies, I guess. Hoping for a high tea and that is filled 2 weeks before I can even try to get it online. I had hoped since there are more sea days than the usual cruises there's be more openings. Maybe they reserved some for the Oct 4 release date and I will just have to try-try-try.

Happy Sunday, All --->
Caryn

 

[DVC4US]

Welcome to everyone who just joined the thread!

kritter - hope you guys decide to join us, we have a pretty great group here and some fun activities planned.

 

[DVC4US]

Glad everyone was able to get on last night and get their excursions. I had trouble again last night but I was able to get on this morning and book the one excursion my Dad wanted to do.

Caryn - I think DCL does keep back some Palo(brunch, dinner, & high tea) times for each level of booking, some for concierge, and some for when we board for those people who don't have access to a computer. So, hopefully if you don't get what you want at the 75 day mark you can still get something once on board. I know you might have to do the 'mad dash' to make the reservations but at least there is hope that something might be available.

I can remember back when none of this was done online and it was always a 'mad dash' to get Palo reservations and spa reservations.

 

[VA Girl]

Just wanted to say HI and welcome to all the new people joining us for this cruise.

I haven't been on much lately but have been thinking about our cruise. What a great group we seem to have.

I've been trying to work on my "girl's only" cruise that I'm going on in November. Since that one is closer and I usually do all the planning for our "girl's only" trips, I've been busy with that. It's funny it is exactly one month before our Disney Christmas cruise.

Well, I hope everyone that was able to book today got everything they wanted for excursions, spa, Palo, etc....

Off to do my chores for now.

 

[BBQMommy]

I know all will work out. There is plenty to do or places to not do anything on board. No place for stress. It has been 10 years since a relaxing vacation. (Many go-go-go ones, though, so we'll be fine whatever )

Caryn

 

[IceSk8ersMom]

We had so much trouble logging in last night. It took us two MacBooks, one Mac Desktop, and one PC laptop, but our Macs let us down. The PC won, and we were logged in at 9:42 P.M.(Pacific). The task was completed at 11

This is what we achieved:
We got all our spa treatments (which was the most important thing to me). We also were able to get all our excursions but the Teen Screaming Eagle in St. Thomas. She was fine with it and happy that she was able to get Wild Side. We also got our dinner and High Tea at Palo. There was only brunch reservations on Christmas. That was a no go because I really want to do family activities on Christmas.

BBQMOMMY: I will be joining you on the mad dash to get Palo reservations

Tonight is the Jonas Bro concert! My DD has an all access pass to the VIP lounge. Lucky DH will be driving teenagers to the concert and waiting in the parking lot for them. DH rocks!

I hope everybody got their desired excursions and activities

Have a wonderful Sunday. Take care and talk to you soon.

 

[jksDory71]

Hello...I am IceSk8ersMom DS. This will be my fifth Disney cruise, and it will be my DH's first time with Mickey at Sea. I am new to the boards so I look forward to getting to know all of you before the cruise. Last night was crazy! We got Palo high tea and dinner, but no brunch.

 

[IceSk8ersMom]

Hello...I am IceSk8ersMom DS. This will be my fifth Disney cruise, and it will be my DH's first time with Mickey at Sea. I am new to the boards so I look forward to getting to know all of you before the cruise. Last night was crazy! We got Palo high tea and dinner, but no brunch.

Welcome! I love it that you are now FINALLY on the boards! Last night was fun. Scott was a trouper. No Brunch, that is okay. It is another DS's Embarkation Dash for Palo.

 

[minneapolismickey]

Welcome to the newcomers of yesterday.

I am so excited to see everyone starting to join in. I fell asleep early last night, but my faithful DH awoke me long enough to get Palo dinner and brunch reservations at 11:20 CST. That is always my top priority since I love PALO! Have never done anything in the spa, but will plan to this year if there is anything still available with the extra days at sea.

This morning I see that really most excursions are still available. I have not been as diligent as I wanted to with investigating these, so I will spend the day thinking this through without worrying. If I don't get something...I'll relax or take something else. My DS's both prefer to stay on the boat since they love the kids clubs. I will have to fight them on most excursions that we take, so my DH and I have learned to save money and minimize the excursion list.

Good luck to everyone who is doing their excursions today. I really need to come up with a clever FE for up to 50 families...I'll do that today also. Have a great day!

Angie

 

[3PrincessGrandma]

Thanks, Joann for making our joint reservations. Welcome to ALL the new people. This is going to be so much fun. We will join the dash for Palo at boarding time. Will have computer withdrawal next week on our trip to CO but too much luggage to add a computer.

 

[IceSk8ersMom]

I am wondering who are cruise director will be? Does anybody have the 411? I am hoping for Brent. Love the accent! I will not be sad if it's Christian, but hoping for Brent

 

[ISCHARCM]

Hello Fellow Holiday Cruisers!!! 89 Days 11 hours 33 minutes and 22 seconds to boarding time. (from the time of this post EST)

I have a questions about excursions, this will be the first time we really booked any and haven't just gone out exploring on our own. We have one or two that are "beach trips" - one being in St Thomas. My question is (and certainly hoping for ALL that this is not the case) - what if it is raining? How is that handled? Are we out the money?

Thanks in advance!

 

[3princessMommy]

Hello Fellow Holiday Cruisers!!! 89 Days 11 hours 33 minutes and 22 seconds to boarding time. (from the time of this post EST)

I have a questions about excursions, this will be the first time we really booked any and haven't just gone out exploring on our own. We have one or two that are "beach trips" - one being in St Thomas. My question is (and certainly hoping for ALL that this is not the case) - what if it is raining? How is that handled? Are we out the money?

Thanks in advance!

I think there's some sort of disclaimer in the excursion contract that the cruise company isn't responsible for fluctuations in weather or water conditions. My understanding is that if the excursion is cancelled, you get a full refund. But if it runs - even without perfect conditions, you have to pay the fee.

This happened to us on our honeymoon. We went to a snorkeling site only to find that the jellyfish had rolled in and snorkeling was impossible. The company told us that the conditions were the same all over the island (even though they weren't - other tours snorkeled without a problem). They turned our excursion into a party cruise instead of snorkeling. We all complained and essentially got the difference we paid for snorkeling over the party cruise cost. But we still had to pay for the excursion - only with a small rebate.

I don't know how Disney handles this, but it's got to be pretty standard across the industry.

 

[TheBeadPirate]

I am wondering who are cruise director will be? Does anybody have the 411? I am hoping for Brent. Love the accent! I will not be sad if it's Christian, but hoping for Brent

Don't know as of now.....but, we'll be cruising 10/17 on the Wonder and ask around. We have some crew friends who have worked both boats and should be able to give us the 411 on who'll be around for Christmas.

 

[IceSk8ersMom]

Don't know as of now.....but, we'll be cruising 10/17 on the Wonder and ask around. We have some crew friends who have worked both boats and should be able to give us the 411 on who'll be around for Christmas.

Thank you! I appreciate it. I am soooooo jealous that you will be cruising next month. I look forward to hearing about your cruise.

I noticed on the DCL website that there are special Halloween gifts/items. Do they have Christmas gifts/items? If yes, when will they be available?

Thanks again.

 

[TheBeadPirate]

Thank you! I appreciate it. I am soooooo jealous that you will be cruising next month. I look forward to hearing about your cruise.

I noticed on the DCL website that there are special Halloween gifts/items. Do they have Christmas gifts/items? If yes, when will they be available?

Thanks again.

Last year we sailed the Wonder for Christmas and yes they had special gift baskets/filled stockings/decorated trees. Not sure when they'll be listed as last year we got a brochure/order form in the mail....but then again, we got Halloween gift basket notice in the mail last year too and it doesn't look like anyone has gotten that this year.

 

[minneapolismickey]

Good evening everyone.

I am about to get on the internet and try to secure the rest of our excursions. Before I do that, my DS12 has voiced interest in communicating with any DS 11-13 out there. He will be very interested in spending every waking minute in ocean quest and/or with friends.

He just started email and facebook this week, so it is a really big deal for him right now. If any of you want to have your kids hook up with him please PM me, and he will be happy to respond.

Thanks- Angie