Mar. 19, 2009 Wonder: Aye, But We're Loved by Our Mummies and Dads

[ksoehrlein]

I noticed a few of you posted on the Kids Sail Free thread, so I thought this would be a good name for our meet. Of course, those of you without kids are welcome here as well!

My cast of characters is me, DH, 8-yo DD and 5-yo DS. We haven't sailed since a Wonder 4-day cruise in 2002, when I was pregnant and DD was too young for the kids club, so this will be our first cruise where we can all participate in everything. I'm really looking forward to it!

Here is a sum of everyone who has posted on this thread: (Thanks to Stephanie and Chrisann for originally summarizing!)

ksoehrlein (Kim), dh (Chuck), dd8 (Beth), and ds5 (Richard)

chrisann, dh, ds9 , and ds (turning 6 on cruise!) 1st time cruiser

Juliet25 (Stephanie), dh (Michael), dd5 (Phoebe), dd1 (Ruby) 1st time cruiser

auntyabaand PurdyBertnie (dd20) 1st time cruiser

Txgirl1 (Viv), dh (James), dd6 (Maggie) 1st time cruiser

Aunt Stepody (Stephanie), dh, ds9 ds6 1st time cruiser

Out To Sea Lee (Lee Ann), dh, ds11 , dd7

MollyMcDaniel (Molly), dh (Mark), dd4 (Emma)

Chrissyd1, dh, ds5 (Tyler) dd1 (Kaylee)

Aliswa (Alison), DH (Alan), DD Olivia (4) and DD Savannah (will be turning 2 right after we return home)

Khiguchi (24) and her sister Jhiguchi (20)

PlanoJessie, dh Hang, ds Dylan (turning 6 on 3/18, the night before the sail) ds Dustin (just turned 4 last month) , also Grandma and Grandpa

akeogh, dh, ds Teddy (8), dd Emmy (5 1/2) and dd Gracie (almost 3)​

Sorry I couldn't use pirate and princess smilies for this last family. Apparently, there is a limit to how many icons you can use in one post!

Is that everyone?

 

[ksoehrlein]

Just found out that our GTY stateroom now has a number. There go my hopes of a complimentary upgrade, but I think I'm happy with it. We'll be stateroom #6558. Party on the verandah!

 

[chrisann]

Our Team consists of, dh, myself, ds9 and ds5(will be turning 6 on Mach 20th). This is our very first cruise ever but I've been dreaming about it for a long time!! We've been to WDW numerous times because we just love everything Disney so we're looking forward to this too. We have a tendancy of not telling the boys when we go on vacation so I'm not sure if we should do the same or tell them ahead of time. I have 91 days to figure it out!! Can't wait to meet you all!! How do you know what room# you'll be getting? What category did you book?

 

[Juliet25]

Hello! First time cruisers, long-time park goers here. Our cast includes me (Stephanie), DH (Michael), DD5 (Phoebe), and DD<1 (Ruby). I've been wanting to go on a DCL forever...I can't believe my DH agreed to it so quickly!

We're in a GTY. I haven't checked the website so I don't know if our cabin has been assigned yet.

We're following up the cruise with a stay at AKL for DD's spring break.

This will be the longest vacation we've ever taken, so I'm really looking forward to relaxing and just taking in all the "wonder."

(Too funny about the thread title!)

 

[auntyaba]

Hey there, so glad to see someone finally started this thread was beginning to think we were only ones going at this time. Our cast is myself (42) and my dd (20). First cruise ever and we are soooo excited. Surprised DD for christmas with spring break land/sea package. I have read and read and reread so much info on this board and look forward to reading all the new stuff and getting the answer to so many questions I have.

 

[ksoehrlein]

Looks like between us, we'll have three 5- to 6-year-olds! How cool is that? Want to share photos so our little ones will see some familiar faces on board? I'll start. Sorry it's so big! This is Beth, Richard, and "a friend" you might recognize...

 

[Txgirl1]

Hi,

It's very late, I'm about to zonk out but wanted to say, Hi!! I've been checking out this board and just learned about Meets and Fish Extenders...although I'm still not to sure what that's about!

My name is vivian, (dh)James and (dd6)maggie. This will be mine and dh's 2nd cruise (1st not Disney) and dd's first. We are doing the land/sea package. We could not get the kid sails free as we had the land part on our trip. BUMMER!

I do not know the ship lingo---what is GTY? I've seen that in several places.

I've been a mini wreck letting dh plan this trip because I think we/he paid way too much. But, I keep telling myself to let it go and enjoy. Oh, we are on the 7th floor....level, eh, not sure what you call it.

Looking forward to this trip very much and having a great time. I hope to meet some of you.

~viv

 

[ksoehrlein]

Welcome to the DIS Boards, Vivian! I'm so excited that our Cruise Meet thread is where you posted for the first time! And yet another 6-yo? That's terrific! I hope Maggie, Richard, Phoebe and Chrisann's son end up becoming fast friends!

GTY is when you are guaranteed to be in no lower than a particular category (reading between the lines, you could end up getting a better stateroom than the one you booked), but you don't know your stateroom number. It simply says GTY in the place on your confirmation where a room number would normally appear. Our cabin was GTY at first, so I had hopes of a free upgrade, but when I went back to make my final payment, I saw a stateroom number instead. But it looks like a pretty good room, so I'm happy!

Where are you staying for the land portion? Chuck is coming just for the cruise, but the kids and I will be at SSR (or AKV if our DVC waitlist comes through) Sunday through Thursday morning.

Since you mentioned Fish Extenders and FE exchanges, does anyone want to do this? It sounds like fun, but it also sounds like something that would create additional stress as we're packing and planning, so I could go either way. Right now I'm obsessing over door magnet designs!

 

[Txgirl1]

Thanks! I think maggie will have some fun in the club, she's a very independent girl. But I think she will have lots more fun having some friends on the ship. She turns 6 this month.

There are so many abbreviations used here that it's very confusing. I didn't know about GTY but I wanted a veranda for sure this trip around.

SSR (or AKV if our DVC waitlist comes through....whatwhatwhat???? lol. I don't know what that means but we are staying at the Polynesian starting that Sunday prior to sailing. james wanted to be on the monorail line which sounds good to me as I'm all about convenience. haha.

I have no idea what is good or must see in Disney and what to really expect on this cruise. The last cruise I went on was in '98 RCCL....so long ago.

Ok, I'm either or for Fish Extenders if enough people want to do it. But, I have to ask, what is the deal with the door magnets? Are there other little things about cruising this line I should know about? I want to be in on all those little things.

It's so nice talking with others who will be on the same cruise.

Ok, I need to go and get ready for lunch, oh, there's my friend calling!

~viv

Welcome to the DIS Boards, Vivian! I'm so excited that our Cruise Meet thread is where you posted for the first time! And yet another 6-yo? That's terrific! I hope Maggie, Richard, Phoebe and Chrisann's son end up becoming fast friends!

GTY is when you are guaranteed to be in no lower than a particular category (reading between the lines, you could end up getting a better stateroom than the one you booked), but you don't know your stateroom number. It simply says GTY in the place on your confirmation where a room number would normally appear. Our cabin was GTY at first, so I had hopes of a free upgrade, but when I went back to make my final payment, I saw a stateroom number instead. But it looks like a pretty good room, so I'm happy!

Where are you staying for the land portion? Chuck is coming just for the cruise, but the kids and I will be at SSR (or AKV if our DVC waitlist comes through) Sunday through Thursday morning.

Since you mentioned Fish Extenders and FE exchanges, does anyone want to do this? It sounds like fun, but it also sounds like something that would create additional stress as we're packing and planning, so I could go either way. Right now I'm obsessing over door magnet designs!

 

[ksoehrlein]

Sorry for all the acronyms, Viv! We'll be staying using our Disney Vacation Club (DVC) points. Right now, our room is at Saratoga Springs Resort (SSR), but I would prefer Animal Kingdom Villas (AKV), so we are on a waiting list for that.

How awesome that you'll be at the Poly! You will LOVE it! The kids and I are going to have dinner at 'Ohana one night. Maybe we could meet up at the Poly that night so we'll already know each other before we set sail.

With regard to GTY, I don't think it's something you request. You can choose your stateroom from those that are available or simply say you want a Category XX. Since we also wanted the verandah, I requested a Category 6 at the time I booked, and at that point, they couldn't tell me which stateroom we would have. But now I know.

We first sailed on the Disney Wonder in 2002 and I don't think we saw a single door that was decorated. Since then, however, word has gotten out that the doors are metal, so lots of people will bring magnets to make their door more recognizable. Our Disney Cruise Line forum has a few threads with door magnet design ideas. I've designed a few t-shirts for past WDW trips (that's a whole other forum in and of itself!), so I'm eager to try my hand at making my own magnets for our door. If nothing else, a magnetic dry-erase white board is a good idea so that Chuck and I can leave each other "where you at" messages throughout the day. At home, we're so dependent on our cell phones; it's going to be hard to be incommunicado during the cruise!

 

[Txgirl1]

Kim,

I think it would be awesome (!) to meet at Ohana for dinner. I definitely want to eat there as I've heard good things about it the food and decor. Before we leave we will swap cell numbers, ok?

We are in TX so don't get down to FL much. I've been a couple of times in the last few years....to Destin and then Sunny Isles. My f-i-l had a condo in Destin and now has one in SI...So, I guess no DVC for us.

For our honeymoon, long ago, we went to Egypt because, honest to goodness, it was cheaper than staying at the Grand Floridian! That one, the Poly and just recently the Animal Kingdom Villas are the only ones I know about. Can you really see the animals out of your room windows? If so, that sounds like the place to be. Oh, do you know anything about the luau? It sounds fun but on another board or somewhere someone said it was boring and expensive.

I don't know the difference, but we are category 5. I could not tell any differences between that and 6.

I may have to see if I can find those magnet and tee shirt threads...will you point me in the right direction?

I know it bites about the phones. I was telling James that we should take our walkie talkies. I had the great idea to buy them a couple of years ago and we've never used them. They've been in the charger since then so they may need new batteries.

Do you have a fish thingy....sorry about that, I've been gone since my last post. I went to bed late, up early and am now really tired. My brain is not functioning at full capacity.

I love the little smilies but what do the "wish" ones mean?

Hey, what excursions are ya'll thinking of doing? We are not sure yet but need to book them soon. Since we've only recently gotten our tickets, we've had to iron out some glitches. Although, we are interested in mags doing the dolphin thing and feeding the stingrays. James and I did the stingray thing in the Cayman Islands and it was a neat experience.

~v






We first sailed on the Disney Wonder in 2002 and I don't think we saw a single door that was decorated. Since then, however, word has gotten out that the doors are metal, so lots of people will bring magnets to make their door more recognizable. Our Disney Cruise Line forum has a few threads with door magnet design ideas. I've designed a few t-shirts for past WDW trips (that's a whole other forum in and of itself!), so I'm eager to try my hand at making my own magnets for our door. If nothing else, a magnetic dry-erase white board is a good idea so that Chuck and I can leave each other "where you at" messages throughout the day. At home, we're so dependent on our cell phones; it's going to be hard to be incommunicado during the cruise![/QUOTE]

 

[auntyaba]

Kim,

I think it would be awesome (!) to meet at Ohana for dinner. I definitely want to eat there as I've heard good things about it the food and decor. Before we leave we will swap cell numbers, ok?

We are in TX so don't get down to FL much. I've been a couple of times in the last few years....to Destin and then Sunny Isles. My f-i-l had a condo in Destin and now has one in SI...So, I guess no DVC for us.

For our honeymoon, long ago, we went to Egypt because, honest to goodness, it was cheaper than staying at the Grand Floridian! That one, the Poly and just recently the Animal Kingdom Villas are the only ones I know about. Can you really see the animals out of your room windows? If so, that sounds like the place to be. Oh, do you know anything about the luau? It sounds fun but on another board or somewhere someone said it was boring and expensive.

I don't know the difference, but we are category 5. I could not tell any differences between that and 6.

I may have to see if I can find those magnet and tee shirt threads...will you point me in the right direction?

I know it bites about the phones. I was telling James that we should take our walkie talkies. I had the great idea to buy them a couple of years ago and we've never used them. They've been in the charger since then so they may need new batteries.

Do you have a fish thingy....sorry about that, I've been gone since my last post. I went to bed late, up early and am now really tired. My brain is not functioning at full capacity.

I love the little smilies but what do the "wish" ones mean?

Hey, what excursions are ya'll thinking of doing? We are not sure yet but need to book them soon. Since we've only recently gotten our tickets, we've had to iron out some glitches. Although, we are interested in mags doing the dolphin thing and feeding the stingrays. James and I did the stingray thing in the Cayman Islands and it was a neat experience.

~v






We first sailed on the Disney Wonder in 2002 and I don't think we saw a single door that was decorated. Since then, however, word has gotten out that the doors are metal, so lots of people will bring magnets to make their door more recognizable. Our Disney Cruise Line forum has a few threads with door magnet design ideas. I've designed a few t-shirts for past WDW trips (that's a whole other forum in and of itself!), so I'm eager to try my hand at making my own magnets for our door. If nothing else, a magnetic dry-erase white board is a good idea so that Chuck and I can leave each other "where you at" messages throughout the day. At home, we're so dependent on our cell phones; it's going to be hard to be incommunicado during the cruise!

[/QUOTE]


My DD (20) and I are thinking about doing the door magnets just cause I think they are fun. Considered FE but honestly I am stressing over packing as it is so I think I am going to skip that this first time out.

We are booked for the Dolphin Encounter at the Atlantis Resort in the afternoon and hope to tour the resort on our own in the morning. Also booked the Seahorse Catamaran Snorkeling excursion on CC for early afternoon as well.

 

[Juliet25]

Sorry for all the acronyms, Viv! We'll be staying using our Disney Vacation Club (DVC) points. Right now, our room is at Saratoga Springs Resort (SSR), but I would prefer Animal Kingdom Villas (AKV), so we are on a waiting list for that.

Good luck with your WL! We're trying AKV after our cruise. I'm really looking forward to it.

So cool that there are so many kids around the same age. DH and I are hoping Phoebe will spend a lot of time in the kids club. We just booked our youngest DD for 10 hours at Flounder. We're figuring we'll have family time at WDW. During the cruise, we want "us" time. But kids always have other ideas, so I'm not counting on it. (though DH is! )

I'll post a pic at some point. I've got a bunch from Christmas that I haven't downloaded yet.

Has anyone booked their Nassau excursion? We're thinking of just staying on the ship and exploring since we've never sailed before. I'm really looking forward to CC.

 

[Juliet25]

That's so crazy how close in ages our kids are. Phoebe will turn 6 on April 4. My other DD will turn 1 on March 30. I wish we could celebrate their bdays in WDW or on a cruise, but Phoebe's spring break is the week before.

 

[ksoehrlein]

Just wanted to let you all know that I will be out-of-pocket for the next few days. I'm running in the WDW Half Marathon on Saturday and will be catching my flight out this evening!

Viv, I e-mailed you from my web page and included my e-mail address. Let me know if your spam filter blocked the message, and I'll try again from a different account. The WISH smilies are from the WISH forum and can be added to your signature once you hit a goal. WISH stands for We're Inspired to Stay Healthy. They're a great group of people! I recommend that part of the DIS Boards for anyone looking for accountability with regard to diet and/or exercise. But watch out! After logging in my runs, I found myself "needing" to run the half marathon. Everyone's enthusiasm was just way too contagious and I couldn't resist!

I was on the fence about shore excursions and am now leaning toward staying on the ship. Three days is such a short time, it makes it really hard to choose! We will definitely do some snorkeling at Castaway Cay, but that's all I have planned for now.

Does anyone want anything from WDW? I'll be happy to grab park maps or anything else you might need or want.

 

[Txgirl1]

Hi!!

I found some cute stuff for FE I might bring along if anyone else does it. But yes, thinking of the packing is slowly starting to stress me out. It can be a lot of luggage for 3 people....good thing dd is so small.

I still haven't had time to see what the door magnets are all about but I might give it a look see.

I just tried to call dh to see if he has booked our excursions yet. I'm not sure we....oh, never mind. I just went to check on stuff and we are in the middle of a deviation on air travel so we still owe some money and cannot book anything until we pay that off. Well, maybe tonite we can finally decide.
It is nice to know where the dolphin encounter is. Is there anyplace on Disney Cruise Line to find the cost of the excursions?

~vivian





My DD (20) and I are thinking about doing the door magnets just cause I think they are fun. Considered FE but honestly I am stressing over packing as it is so I think I am going to skip that this first time out.

We are booked for the Dolphin Encounter at the Atlantis Resort in the afternoon and hope to tour the resort on our own in the morning. Also booked the Seahorse Catamaran Snorkeling excursion on CC for early afternoon as well.[/QUOTE]

 

[Txgirl1]

Kim,

Good Luck with the half marathon. I'm sure you'll have a blast. I'll be cheering for you.

I'll check my email and let you know if I got it or not. A park map might be good. It'll give us an idea of what is where. I'm totally a visual person. I'm seriously thinking of buying that tourguide Mike's info. I'm so not good about standing in long lines.

Have fun!!

~vivian

Just wanted to let you all know that I will be out-of-pocket for the next few days. I'm running in the WDW Half Marathon on Saturday and will be catching my flight out this evening!

Viv, I e-mailed you from my web page and included my e-mail address. Let me know if your spam filter blocked the message, and I'll try again from a different account. The WISH smilies are from the WISH forum and can be added to your signature once you hit a goal. WISH stands for We're Inspired to Stay Healthy. They're a great group of people! I recommend that part of the DIS Boards for anyone looking for accountability with regard to diet and/or exercise. But watch out! After logging in my runs, I found myself "needing" to run the half marathon. Everyone's enthusiasm was just way too contagious and I couldn't resist!

I was on the fence about shore excursions and am now leaning toward staying on the ship. Three days is such a short time, it makes it really hard to choose! We will definitely do some snorkeling at Castaway Cay, but that's all I have planned for now.

Does anyone want anything from WDW? I'll be happy to grab park maps or anything else you might need or want.

 

[Txgirl1]

Juliet,

Yeah, I'm glad we may be meeting people with kids around the same age as maggie. I haven't really given it much thought as to how long or when she might spend time in the club. I do need to get her registered though. I just know once she spends a bit of time in there she may not want to leave.

No here on the excursions. As I posted earlier there is a glitch we are working out.

Are ya'll on early or late dinner? We are on late right now but trying to get it changed to early. m's bedtime is 7:30! plus I don't like to eat late...reflux issues.

~vivian

Good luck with your WL! We're trying AKV after our cruise. I'm really looking forward to it.

So cool that there are so many kids around the same age. DH and I are hoping Phoebe will spend a lot of time in the kids club. We just booked our youngest DD for 10 hours at Flounder. We're figuring we'll have family time at WDW. During the cruise, we want "us" time. But kids always have other ideas, so I'm not counting on it. (though DH is! )

I'll post a pic at some point. I've got a bunch from Christmas that I haven't downloaded yet.

Has anyone booked their Nassau excursion? We're thinking of just staying on the ship and exploring since we've never sailed before. I'm really looking forward to CC.

 

[Txgirl1]

Doh! I meant Stephanie, not Juliet.

 

[ksoehrlein]

JAre ya'll on early or late dinner? We are on late right now but trying to get it changed to early.

We're currently on late. I was considering getting it switched so the kids could eat dinner with us without falling asleep at the table, but that would mean that we would have to go to the late main show. I'd rather run the risk of them falling asleep at dinner than the risk of them falling asleep during the shows, so I think we'll keep the late dinner. We tend to eat around 7 PM, which is 8 PM Eastern, so it shouldn't be too much of an adjustment (I hope).