March 10, 2007 - 7 Day Western Magic

[ShannonR]

Hi everyone!

I was trying to think of something interesting to say regarding McAllen and there isn't ANYTHING! It is a go nowhere, do nothing kind of city. Other than being so close to the Mexican border (10 minutes from Reynosa) nothing EVER happens here. We moved here 3 years ago, and we were told that it had not snowed here in 165 years. Well, wouldn't you know it, it snowed the very first Christmas we were here! The whole reason we moved here (from Michigan) was to get AWAY from the cold and snow, only to have it follow us here the very first year. The people down here thought it was great but we DID NOT!! Other than that, it is pretty boring here in the south, south of Texas.

It's in the 80's again today and sunny! Hooray!

Shannon

P.S. Laura, prayers go your way to your family from ours regarding your DH uncle. I hope you all get through this with as little pain as possible.

 

[kperkins0407]

Hello everyone! So glad that today is Friday and the work day is over. Today was originally scheduled for teacher in-service, but ended up being an ice make-up day. What a day--had to take 4 students to the office (I have only had to take 1 student this entire year & then had 4 today). At least we have Monday off!

My parents are in town--they always help out with errands, chores, etc. They are ALWAYS a big help when they come.

Booking excursions...I tried sometime last week and was not able to change anything. I think that when you go to make an excursion reservation it only lists the AVAILABLE excursions. I am thinking that they are completely booked since none were listed when I tried, but I could be completely wrong.

This is a question for the scrapbookers--do you have the cricut machine? I love mine. They are releasing 2 Disney cartridges for the cricut machine in March.

I agree the last night on board is the most depressing of the entire cruise. It is hard to believe that the Disney is going to actual make you get off the next day. Work weeks seem to drag on and on, but the week flies by while cruising.

As for San Antonio...it is a wonderful vacation spot. Try to avoid summers since it can be very HOT. Fall is wonderful....we do not actually have a true fall where the leaves change, but the temp. is great. We wear shorts most of the year. You can't wear them everyday, but there are many days each month that you can wear them. Even though we are only a 4 1/2 hour drive from Dallas the weather is much warmer year around here. Of course, there is the Alamo and the Riverwalk and the Spurs (Go Spurs GO!) The San Antonio Rodeo is every Feb. for 2 weeks. I was suppose to take Roxanna, 2 of her friends, and one of my friends to the rodeo to see Gretchen Wilson. (and we had box seats) Unfortunately, that is when I had the stomach bug the entire weekend and could not get out of bed. My friend took her mother and the girls.

Talk to everyone later. Enjoy your weekend.

Kim

 

[kperkins0407]

I had a quick thought about a possible conflict with the arranged Sunday 9:30 meeting. What about the Character Breakfast? I assume that they still have these. In the past it was on 3 mornings and you were assigned to which one you attended depending on your dinner assignments. I believe that they have been on Sun., Mon., and Thurs. Early seating @ 8:30 and Late seating @ 9:30. I tried to look at the posted navigators on-line but the print is too small. Does anyone have any information on these breakfasts--days/times??

Kim

 

[kperkins0407]

I am thinking that the characters breakfasts are not listed in the Navigators. Your assigned time / day are printed on the tickets that are in your stateroom when arrive on Sat. Can't remember for sure. ???

 

[Suz D]

I'll post to the cruise board to see if anyone has info on when they have been the last couple of Western's.

 

[tuliene]

I booked an excursion for the nautilus on grand cayman just last night. Couldn't book the stingray on CC - for some reason they would only book my son and not me. Incidentally, am only going to book one big excursion for the whole trip. tHERe's going to be so much to do as it is.

 

[MECH8T7]

I booked an excursion for the nautilus on grand cayman just last night. Couldn't book the stingray on CC - for some reason they would only book my son and not me.

I had a similar problem for DW with a Grand Cayman shore excursion. I think it was because DW was booked for something in the spa later the same day. My TA took care of fixing the booking but also said that we could have called the DCL number that deals with Palos and shore excursions 1-800-511-1333.

My sister was on a 7-day DCL cruise last September and she said that they offered "specials" on some of the shore excursions and spa treatments if you book on board. Presumably, these are the less popular ones. Anyone know how common this is or what type of deals are offered? (My sister said that her cruise didn't seem that full, so maybe that's why?)

 

[MECH8T7]

Shannon...My sister-in-law used to live in Kingsville down in that part of Texas. Her husband works for the border patrol...lot's of interesting stories. They moved to upstate New York (Massena) where her husband now works on the Canada-U.S. border. In what part of Michigan did you used to live? DW and I went to university in Windsor, Ontario for three years -- we met there -- and we spent a good deal of our free time (and, frankly, time that we should have been in classes) over the border doing stuff in Michigan.

 

[Suz D]

Kim and all. You may have seen the reply to my question on the cruise board. It looks like if you eat at AP on Saturday you will have your character breakfast on Sunday. I'm not sure what to do at this point. Perhaps meet sometime Saturday evening between early/late dinner and the late show? Ideas anyone? One thought is that we could just not worry about eating breakfast together and meet at say 11:00 A.M. Sunday morning up by the pools for a beverage. Then kids could swim if they want and adults could visit?

 

[kperkins0407]

I am open to whatever works for everyone. We have late dinner and will attend the early show at 6:15. I can't remember how long the shows are....maybe meeting as soon as the 1st show is over. I don't know how crowded this area will be, but it would be easy to find--in front of Walt Disney's picture on the wall in front of the Walt Disney Theater. Also, I think that 11:00 on Sunday would work since it looks like the first excursions do not leave until around 12:00 or 12:30.

Kim

 

[tink&cinderella]

Suz. could you add me to your list for making a scrapbook. I would love to join the girls.

As per one of the last posting request about where people are from in Canada, we are from Ottawa, Ontario.

Thanks,
Janice

Hi

We are from Ajax,Ontario just slightly east of Toronto.

Denise

 

[Marsh Family]

Hi all,

just awoke from a far too short sleep, 2 more nights of work then holidays for me! snowed AGAIN here today but we missed getting the heavy snowfall expected (some Montana low was comming in) I hope it has indeed missed us and is not just slower than they thought.

John a fact about Winnipeg (great idea) ... well Disney related... the bear that Winnie the Pooh books and Disney movies are based on was named after Winnipeg.

War troops bought the bear from a hunter and it became their mascot (went over seas with them and ended up in a zoo in london where A.A. Milne and his son Christopher Robin visited often).

As for our weather we have the biggest temperature ranges (due to our location on the prairies) From winters bitter cold temps often below -30 degrees C or -22 degrees F (not including the wind chill) to the hot summers of temps of around +30 degrees C or +90 Degrees F.

The girls have finsihed cleaning their rooms so the dog can go in them while we are away and Courtney DD is packing and trying on all her old summer stuff (not looking good, she has grown lots! but i figured as much so we plan on getting clothes down there before the cruise).

Chris is busy snowblowing the driveway.

Going to try and go back for a nap, have a great day everyone,

Erin

 

[ShannonR]

Hi everyone! I hope everyone's weekend has been a good one!

Erin-I just woke up myself! Long night last night. We have 2 secretaries and they are both out for the next two weeks! Not only am I doing charge nurse duties, but I am trying to be the secretary as well and I hate it!

How many people have gotten their cruise documents? We are anxiously awaiting ours!! Our luck and it will be the day before travel time when we finally get them.

We are planning to go into Key West and go on the trolley and possibly the pirate museum. If we meet on Sunday, will it be early?

Shannon

 

[ShannonR]

John, we are from a VERY tiny town just outside of Grand Rapids. We have been to Windsor several times as teenagers and young adults (it wasn't hard since the whole state is only a couple hours drive side to side). I remember going there for my 19th birthday, since the legal drinking age is 19 in Canada (or at least it was back then) We also went there gambling a couple of times, concerts, etc... Not really much difference between Canada and the United States. Now that I am on the other end of the country, there are HUGE differences between Mexico and the United States! Can't say that there were any immigration problems from Canada!

Shannon

 

[Marsh Family]

Good Sunday Evening Everyone,
We are set to leave this Friday, just wondering if there is anyone out there who has cruised before, and used thosed little family two-way radios, we are planning to bring ours. I would like to know if, in your experience, if they worked, or is it even worth bringing them, I thought it might be a good idea for us to communicate with each other. Thanks for your input!
Best Regards,
Chris

 

[MECH8T7]

Good Sunday Evening Everyone,
We are set to leave this Friday, just wondering if there is anyone out there who has cruised before, and used thosed little family two-way radios, we are planning to bring ours. I would like to know if, in your experience, if they worked, or is it even worth bringing them, I thought it might be a good idea for us to communicate with each other. Thanks for your input!
Best Regards,
Chris

Chris, there's a thread on this topic on the main DCL board.

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1368955

One thing to keep in mind, is that, technically, if you have a dual mode FRS/GMRS two-way radio (GMRS gives you greater range) you need a license in the US to transmit via GMRS frequency whereas in Canada you do not. It appears that it is illegal to transmit via GMRS in Mexico and who knows about Castaway Cay and Cayman Islands. So, you may want to restrict yourself to FRS frequencies. We're probably going to bring ours, partly because we will be visiting WDW beforehand.

 

[kperkins0407]

Both cruises, we took the 2 way radios but really never used them. Others in our group tried to get theirs to work but weren't successful--not sure if it was the 2 way radio malfunctioning or lack of reception. We will probably take ours just in case.

Shannon--did you book the trolley excursion through Disney or are you going to do it on your own when you get there? We are thinking about doing the trolley on our own. Have you heard anything about the trollies? We are going to get off the ship as soon as they allow us to. I think that is around 11:30.

Kim

 

[Suz D]

How many people have gotten their cruise documents? We are anxiously awaiting ours!! Our luck and it will be the day before travel time when we finally get them.

We haven't gotten ours yet, but they are coming soon according to our travel agent.

We are planning to go into Key West and go on the trolley and possibly the pirate museum. If we meet on Sunday, will it be early?

I think we are going to look into renting an electric car in Key West. I want some key lime pie on a stick as well.

I just checked the Disney website and it says that "all ashore" is 11:30. We're planning on having lunch onboard and then getting off around 12:30 (unless we have the character breakfast that morning in which case we may not eat lunch). A while back "all aboard" was 12:30 so 11:00 was okay, but with "all ashore" at 11:30, meeting at 11:00 on Sunday will be tight. Anyone have other ideas?

Shannon

Suz

 

[Marsh Family]

Good Morning All,
Thank-You Kim, and John for your quick response to my radio question, it is greatly appreciated. Last cruise we did not take them and wished we would have. I think based on the thread I was reading on the radios and your experience, we will bring them, if they work great, if not oh well. It might allow us to have better communication woth the kids rather than those pagers. It might give us adults a little more freedom as well. YAH HOO!!!!
had my fill of snow and cold weather this winter and looking forward to leave this city behind for a while. Problem being with the amount of snow we have I don't think it will dissapear, when we get back at the end of March. Maybe, we could get together one evening and toast the warm weather and most of all the sun, a couple of wobbly pops and some good food what else could a man ask for? Here's to keeping well!
Best Regards Chris

 

[MECH8T7]

Quick poll: Any families among us making a sign for their door?...and, if so, are you doing something on your printer and putting it on magnetic paper? I think our kids would get right into it. Any reason why our kids couldn't just draw a sign and tape it to the door?