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

[mickeyteachers]

I can hardly wait for this cruise. But, before I can enjoy myself on this wonderful cruise I need to have surgery on October 18th. Two months before we board my wonderful ship. Ok, it is not only my ship. The doctor promised my knee would be fully healed before I go on my cruise. I hope he is telling me the truth. If not, I am going to be very unhappy.
I have started putting together my FE gifts. I have one suitcase for FE gifts and room and door decorations. I have another suitcase for our themed (pirate night, etc.) outfits. The other four suitcases will have the rest of our clothing. I am so glad we are flying Southwest. I love the idea of not paying for all of my luggage.

 

[jgura]

I had a thought, if you get a room across from the laundry....make a magnet for your door to get a message to the guests hanging in the hall. In the past we have booked cat 9's across from the laundry and the noise would come and go. It is nice to just prop your door open and do wash.

 

[disneycruising]

My husband booked us last night!! I am so excited. This will be our 6th Disney Cruise. I am trying to read through the meet thread but it is taking a while. Let me introduce us-- my husband is Sandy, I am Carol and we have two daughters--Sarah who is 8 and Sydney who is 3 and a half. We live in Charleston South Carolina. The girls do not know that the cruise is a definite. The older one is dying to go but worried about Santa finding us at sea! So we'll see how we can work that out. It sure sounds like we will be sailing with a fun group!

Oh--a caution about the gel clings--I did that once on a Halloween cruise and they left behind imprints on the door. Housekeeping was not happy with me and I was afraid Mickey wouldn't let me sail again!!!

Thanks for all the helpful info and I'll keep reading to try and catch up!

WELCOME

 

[BBQMommy]

Welcome Carol!

Kitster, the floors look great!

Belated birthday wishes and safe travel to 3princessmommy --->

Good Morning/Afternoon. Headed off to the gym.



Caryn

 

[DVC4US]

Vicki - the floor looks awesome!

Lois - glad you had a great time in CO. It's great you get to spend the next month with your mom and get your DD to pop in for a visit. Have fun!

mickeyteachers - too bad about the surgery. Keep us posted.

 

[DVC4US]

My husband booked us last night!! I am so excited. This will be our 6th Disney Cruise. I am trying to read through the meet thread but it is taking a while. Let me introduce us-- my husband is Sandy, I am Carol and we have two daughters--Sarah who is 8 and Sydney who is 3 and a half. We live in Charleston South Carolina. The girls do not know that the cruise is a definite. The older one is dying to go but worried about Santa finding us at sea! So we'll see how we can work that out. It sure sounds like we will be sailing with a fun group!

Oh--a caution about the gel clings--I did that once on a Halloween cruise and they left behind imprints on the door. Housekeeping was not happy with me and I was afraid Mickey wouldn't let me sail again!!!

Thanks for all the helpful info and I'll keep reading to try and catch up!

Welcome Aborad Carol!

Make sure you read the first post as bigAWL has done a great job organizing all of our information. Thanks for the tip on the gel clings. I have used the regular window clings before but not gel, so I will make sure I don't bring any gels along this time.

 

[DVC4US]

Just wanted to remind anyone traveling with teens that we have a teen thread going. I've posted the link below, bigAWL has also put it on the first post. My DD is posting on it so sometimes I will read it and it's kinda funny listening to the teens "talk"

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2562840

 

[HFC1969]

Days til vaca..​

71​

 

[IceSk8ersMom]

Lori - I just looked on my nook and the HP series is available to download. I can't comment on the kindle.

It is not available on iBook! So much for reading Harry Potter on my new iPad. But I still love it!

 

[IceSk8ersMom]

My DH is a Marine also! Will yours be wearing his dress blues on formal nights?

My Marine is no longer active. It has been over ten years! His Dress Blues "shrunk" a bit, or he is too buff now to fit in them, I will go with stories. I think the moment I saw him in his Dress Blues is the moment I knew I would marry him. Now, DH protects and serves the city of Chino as a peace officer. I love a man in uniform.

 

[IceSk8ersMom]

It is a date!! I love having the movitation as well. I know what you mean about running. I am not fast at all, but can't quite figure out the correct way to do speed walking. I usually do the elliptical and the treadmill as well at home. I have done the spinning class on board before.

Pam, you are on! Are there any other takers? THE MORE THE MERRIER!

 

[IceSk8ersMom]

I can hardly wait for this cruise. But, before I can enjoy myself on this wonderful cruise I need to have surgery on October 18th. Two months before we board my wonderful ship. Ok, it is not only my ship. The doctor promised my knee would be fully healed before I go on my cruise. I hope he is telling me the truth. If not, I am going to be very unhappy.
I have started putting together my FE gifts. I have one suitcase for FE gifts and room and door decorations. I have another suitcase for our themed (pirate night, etc.) outfits. The other four suitcases will have the rest of our clothing. I am so glad we are flying Southwest. I love the idea of not paying for all of my luggage.

Good luck with the surgery. I am sending positive thoughts your way. I had foot surgery last December 18. I just kept on thinking about what I would be doing a year from then. It was a nice distraction. I imagined myself sipping the drink of the day.

 

[Cruisin'Nick]

Might have to take ya'll up on that offer. just started this week with working out for the first time in 3 years...and lemme tell you..it feels WONDERFUL!! So,by the time the cruise rolls around, I just might join ya'll on some mornings for a lil treadmill walk!!

 

[TheBeadPirate]

Well, I think the decision has been made. I'm going to order the Kindle, biggest reason is the extended battery life(even I can do some damage with 3 weeks on a charge!) and the 3500 booklist vs the Nook's 1500 booklist.

However, I'm going to do a complete back up of the netbook and suck it up and download the Potter series in ePub format. That way if I get bugsies in with it I can wipe it and reload easily. If everything works out I can jump drive them over to the laptop and load onto the Kindle, and hopefully (fingers crossed!) have them for the cruise!

So question- Am I silly to be nervous about taking the Kindle out to the pool loungers? I've seen people with them lots of times before out there, but just the thought of it makes me skittish.

 

[momssurprise]

I would love to join any run/walking on Deck 4. I did this early in the mornings on my last cruises, but 5 years later I walk a lot more than I run these days...DH does the treadmill. Now that DD is 9 rather than 3 and 4 I'm curious to see how our schedule will work out. We have late dining this time. Yay.

I love my new Kindle. I know what you mean by the pool, but I did get the lighted cover from Amazon. Kinda ex*****ve, but it is really handy -- especially bc DH and DD are earlier to bed for me and I'd feel like the K was protected if its in this cover by the pool.

What is eveyone's plan on door magnets? Has anyone found magnetic wreaths or trees? Do car or garage door magnets work? Is anyone personalizing our logo with names, etc. for their doors? If so, help! I'm hopeless at this kind of stuff...

 

[miatamel]

I'm seeing two threads for this cruise, so I don't know which one to post on, but....

We may be late to the party, but we are here!! Just booked!!
Our 3rd Disney cruise...but the last two I had a year to plan and obsess--how in the world will I do it all in two months?
It will be:
Melanie (me) stay at home mom
Stephan my German carpenter hubby
Flannery daughter age 9
Helena daughter age 7
coming from Mississippi

don't know if I have time to do all the fish extenders and ornament exchange, but I'll be with you in spirit First priority is pirate costumes, door magnets, and of course, making sure Santa has stuff there for Christmas (Insert Santa smiles here--still haven't figured out how to do that)

Anything I need to know without having to read 1000 of posts with everything else I have to do, fill me in.

 

[momssurprise]

Welcome Melanie and yipee! -- I just booked this week so we are in the same boat -- except my DH and DD don't know abt the cruise.

BigAWL's post on the first page of this thread answers most questions.

I too am too overwhelmed to do the FE and Ornament Exchange, but am hoping for info on magnets. I'm confused b/c I'm challenged in such matters. If you have any tips...

Also, what ARE people doing for pirate night? We dressed up a bit 5 years ago, but not many people did. Is it bigger now? Will we feel left out if we aren't decked out? Most importantly will my DD9 feel left out? Do I need to get her a pirate costume? Can I get a deal after Halloween?

How are you all planning to dress for the weather? Only cruised in September before so can I just pack summer things with maybe a jacket or two? What is the ship's and the outside temperatures? I understand CC may be chilly, but we'll hopefully escape that in the Southern Caribbean?

 

[IceSk8ersMom]

You miss a few days, and the boards go wild. IT IS SO EXCITING TO SEE!
Welcome to all the new cruisers. It appears that we grow daily.
LeiLani, thanks for the tip on Christmas lights.
Almgetty, please keep information coming. It is very helpful, and it adds to the enthusiasm, planning and anticipation. I have read that there was an issue with scheduling the midnight mass and buffet. Did that occur on your cruise?
Momssurprise, I don’t know how you are keeping this fabulous secret. I would’ve busted already.
Joann, Happy Belated Birthday! I love the Cheesecake Factory. They usually have their wonderful holiday pumpkin cheesecake. I too am frantic with FE or should I say my fabulous mother is. We are trying to get them done before we leave to Vegas to celebrate Thanksgiving with my sister’s in-laws.
Kitser, your floors are fabulous. It is looking good. I do not know how you are doing it all: the house and planning for our cruise. My dining room table and office are a mess with cruise stuff, and I cannot imagine how crazy it would be if I had remodeling to deal with.
I know there has been some discussion about fire hazards so I have an interesting story for you. When we were staying at Disney’s Grand California, the Christmas tree caught on fire. All was okay, but the next year Disney had a firefighter posted 25/7 at the tree. Now, there is no firefighter because the tree is artificial.
I read on the boards somewhere about mailing packages to the port. Does anybody have the information on that? I cannot locate the information again on the boards. Thank you. I appreciate it because we are planning to mail our FE stuff to the port. Or do you recommend mailing it to the Hyatt?
Things that I am looking forward to: My anniversary (tomorrow), homecoming, Fall Festival, Halloween Time at Disneyland, Justin Bieber concert, and Fright Night at Universal Studios.
Take care and talk to you soon.

 

[momssurprise]

Has anyone done these excursions? They are not thru Disney but we were going to do them in 2005, when we were diverted to a Western itinerary b/c of a hurricane. I am thinking about both, especially the Lord Sheffield, but don't know about availability. Sounds like it is within walking distance of the ship so not much fear of missing the boat. Cost is $69 or $79 per adult; I missed the child cost. Includes all you can drink and eat. Oh my! Pirate themed...

Ike Witt is a little trickier but we were going to team up with some other DIS'rs for this -- one couple had done it before and said it was the highlight of their cruise. Let me know if anyone is interested. I don't know cost on the Ike Witt - 5 years ago it was $220 per couple. Needed a minimum of 6 people. We had opted an adult only sail that day, but I'm neutral on that.

 

[TheBeadPirate]

I read on the boards somewhere about mailing packages to the port. Does anybody have the information on that? I cannot locate the information again on the boards. Thank you. I appreciate it because we are planning to mail our FE stuff to the port. Or do you recommend mailing it to the Hyatt?

From the DCL FAQs thread:

Boxes Sent the Ship Ahead of Cruise - PLEASE follow these instructions carefully!!!!!! UPDATED AS OF 2/25/2009
• ONE box per stateroom, no exceptions.
• The package must have the guest full name, ship, sailing date, stateroom number or GTY if you have not been assigned a stateroom number.
• The package also must have a packing slip attached to the outside of the box that details the contents of the package. For prescriptions, a copy of the prescription is sufficient. Your list may or may not be read but it must have one. Write packing slip on the outside of the envelope.
• NO FOODS/DRINKS OF ANY KIND, LIQUOR OF ANY KIND, FIREARMS, ETC.. Items that cannot be shipped to the Disney Cruise Line Warehouse and delivered to the ship include: food products (any and all food products including baby food/formula), beverages (liquor, water, etc.), chemicals, and luggage. These items will not be accepted at the warehouse and will be returned. This may cause the dogs to hit on your box and that would be a bad thing.
• The required size of the cartons you are shipping down have to be about the size of a record storage box 12 inches on a side and should not weigh more than 20 lbs. (This has been asked personally by Dave Adams who is the owner)

Address your package(s) to:
Disney Cruise Line Warehouse
Guest Name / Stateroom # (GTY, if you don't know what it is when you send the package)
8633 Transport Drive
Orlando, FL 32832
Phone: 407-566-8196

In the bottom left corner of the top of the package put the following information: ATTN: HOUSEKEEPING
*Name
*Sail Date
*Ship
*Stateroom Number
*Packing slip that details contents of the package (for prescriptions, a copy of the prescription is sufficient)
• Packages must arrive by Friday by 3:00pm for the 7-Night Cruise on the Disney Magic (Saturday).
• Packages must arrive by Friday by 3:00pm for the 4-Night Cruise on the Disney Wonder (Sunday).
• Packages must arrive by Wednesday by 3:00pm for the 3-Night Cruise on the Disney Wonder (Thursday).

If your box is hit on by the screening dog or chosen for additional screening they will open the list and the box and look through it. They will close it back up and provided nothing bad is in it then it will be in your room as usual later after boarding. These boxes will be coming on the ship with the crew mail among other things so they may be in the staterooms later then they were before as they are low priority in the scheme of things for Disney.