March 15-22, 2008 Eastern - Way-Way Early Check In

[carolmp]

Hey, I just realized by looking at Lisa's ticker that we sail 7 months from today. Woo hoo!

So should I be shopping or something? I feel like I should be picking up bargains, but they are all gone. Not much summer merchandise left in the stores up here. Each girl got a new swimsuit on clearance, but they will probably still need another one by next Spring. What all are you gals picking up?

 

[nlm]

Hi,

Yes, it is a strange feeling sending those birth certificates away. They do come back!

Nancy, I was looking at the web site for the Best Western, and they do offer a shuttle. I just thought I'd throw that out there. I didn't see it the first time I looked at the web site.

Talk to you later!
Carol

Hi Carol!

I thought you'd be in the mountains this week. When are you guys heading out?

DH and the girls went to Luray Cavern this weekend and then went into Shenandoah National Park afterwards. When he brought it up, I thought about your guys, since I know you like to go to the mountains/camping. Have you ever made it to the Shenandoah Mountains?

Thanks for the tip about the Best Western. I'll take a look.

Nancy

 

[carolmp]

We leave Saturday. DD14 is at camp this week, so we are picking her up at 10:00 and leaving right from there. Our goal is to get as close to Indianapolis as we can that night. We should be home next Sunday.

Yes, I'm starting to do some packing and some fine tuning of the activities for the week. I scheduled our tour of the Indy 500 track for Sunday. (Not into racing, but figure if we're in the area, we might as well stop and take a look.) I'm looking at Mammoth Cave tour schedules to see what might fit in the best. I am pleasantly surprised to see that we are using the "off-peak summer" schedule for tours. So hopefully the crowds will be down a little. I have a friend from Kentucky who children started school in mid-August. But that was several years ago, so I'm not sure if that is still the case. So I'm hoping that school is back in session and that it is too early for field trips yet.

 

[limati]

Hello All,

7 months? Can't wait. I found some pretty good deals on disneyshopping.com. I got dd some pajamas for 3.99 and 4.99 a set. I also found my dd and I matching print dresses and shirts for the guys in the same print for a pretty good price. There is an outlet section that is pretty good. I also found matching t-shirts for 4.99 each. I love bargain shopping! I even got 15% off and 5.00 shipping on that particular day.

We want to stay close to the port. I really want us to be able to take our time and enjoy everything as much as possible. You know some hotels show up as not available already. Can you believe that?

We are going on 6 weeks since we applied for our passports. I know they have received our app's. so we'll see.

Lisa

 

[nlm]

We leave Saturday. DD14 is at camp this week, so we are picking her up at 10:00 and leaving right from there. Our goal is to get as close to Indianapolis as we can that night. We should be home next Sunday.

Yes, I'm starting to do some packing and some fine tuning of the activities for the week. I scheduled our tour of the Indy 500 track for Sunday. (Not into racing, but figure if we're in the area, we might as well stop and take a look.) I'm looking at Mammoth Cave tour schedules to see what might fit in the best. I am pleasantly surprised to see that we are using the "off-peak summer" schedule for tours. So hopefully the crowds will be down a little. I have a friend from Kentucky who children started school in mid-August. But that was several years ago, so I'm not sure if that is still the case. So I'm hoping that school is back in session and that it is too early for field trips yet.

Hope you guys have a great time!

We've always had luck traveling towards the end of August - except for the one time DH and DD10 went to Disney and got caught in hurricane evacuations. It was right around labor day weekend, and I was unable to get them on a plane home before school started because of the evacuations, so I wound up renting a car for them and they drove home. Whew!

Fortunately, you shouldn't encounter anything like that during your trip. Dean and Erin aren't forecasted to be anywhere near you, so you should be fine. Please let us know how the trip goes...

Take care and hope you have a great trip!
Nancy

 

[carolmp]

Fortunately, you shouldn't encounter anything like that during your trip. Dean and Erin aren't forecasted to be anywhere near you, so you should be fine. Please let us know how the trip goes...

Take care and hope you have a great trip!
Nancy

You know, living in Minnesota, I don't pay attention to hurricane forecasts.... I wouldn't have even considered that.

We should have a good time. I'm pretty much packed. Just have to get some last minute food and stuff. I like to pre-cook as many meals as I can and then heat them up when we need them. Mostly tacos and stuff like that. Then we aren't spending a lot of time on vacation cooking.

Getting ready to watch High School Musical 2 tonight! (See, I've got most of my packing done!) I think Lauren would refuse to go on vacation if she were to miss it! The promos look pretty good. I hope it is as good as the first one. Have a good week!

 

[nlm]

7 months? Can't wait. I found some pretty good deals on disneyshopping.com. I got dd some pajamas for 3.99 and 4.99 a set. I also found my dd and I matching print dresses and shirts for the guys in the same print for a pretty good price. There is an outlet section that is pretty good. I also found matching t-shirts for 4.99 each. I love bargain shopping! I even got 15% off and 5.00 shipping on that particular day.

I haven't done any major shopping for the cruise yet. We don't have any matching outfits, although I will try to color coordinate us for dinners and the boarding photo. Since we're driving down, we'll probably stop at the disney outlet in St. Augustine on the way down and the way back too!

We want to stay close to the port. I really want us to be able to take our time and enjoy everything as much as possible. You know some hotels show up as not available already. Can you believe that?

Hmmm, I really have to get my research going and figure out where to stay. What hotel are you looking at?

We are going on 6 weeks since we applied for our passports. I know they have received our app's. so we'll see.

We just got the "we received your application" letter from the state department, and I just registered for electronic updates, so things are moving on our passport front. Pammy jo said the post office told her 6 - 8 weeks total - wouldn't that be nice! I'll keep my fingers crossed for all of us who are waiting!

 

[nlm]

Getting ready to watch High School Musical 2 tonight! (See, I've got most of my packing done!) I think Lauren would refuse to go on vacation if she were to miss it! The promos look pretty good. I hope it is as good as the first one. Have a good week!

So - did anyone else watch HSM2? What did you think?

I watched on Friday AND Saturday w/DD10 and DD4 - they were mesmerized! Me - not so much. I really enjoyed the first one, but thought the second one was a little choppy. Also, did the music sound kind of tinny/canned to anyone else? (technical term, don't you know! ) Overall, I liked it, but not as much as the first. What did you all think?

 

[limati]

I received an e-mail about our children's passports. It said we should have them on or around August 22nd. I haven't heard about when mine will be on it's way (and I was just getting it renewed). We'll see.

We have stayed at Comfort Inn and Suites close to Ron Jon's. I was hoping to stay there or maybe the Best Western that I believe is in Cocoa Beach. Our flight gets in fairly early on Friday so we would like to get to the beach if we can.

As for the matching clothes I doubt the boys will go along. My son will probably roll his 13 year old eyes at that. We'll see. I've already threatened to dress him up in a full pirate costume for Pirate night! "Yeah, right Mom".

Hope everyone is doing well!

Lisa

 

[nlm]

I received an e-mail about our children's passports. It said we should have them on or around August 22nd. I haven't heard about when mine will be on it's way (and I was just getting it renewed). We'll see.

I only registered my application so far - I'll register the kids tonight so I can get that notice about their passport as well.

We have stayed at Comfort Inn and Suites close to Ron Jon's. I was hoping to stay there or maybe the Best Western that I believe is in Cocoa Beach. Our flight gets in fairly early on Friday so we would like to get to the beach if we can.

Since we probably won't get in until dinner on Friday, we're planning to stay closer to port. Things are crazy around here, and I haven't had the time to do much research yet. Once the kids are back in school (after labor day) I should have a little more free time to plan.

As for the matching clothes I doubt the boys will go along. My son will probably roll his 13 year old eyes at that. We'll see. I've already threatened to dress him up in a full pirate costume for Pirate night! "Yeah, right Mom".

LOL! I got the same reaction from DH when I try to color coordinate for pictures! Although he was the one who was hot to dress up for pirate night.

 

[happymommy]

Hi all! I feel like I'm interrupting a conversation, but I'm from Maryland and see that some of you are from Northern Virginia.

I decided to send kids to school day before, then fly directly from BWI (that is closest to my home and I like Southwest Airlines) that evening about 6pm - don't know as their schedule isn't out that far! I think we'll stay at the Hyatt at the airport, get some dinner and just rest!

They have spring break March 15 till the Tuesday after Easter.

Of course, these things change!

I just was looking at a thread about the fish hangars, is anyone bringing one? It would be a cute idea. I may either get or (more probably) make one.

My DD will have her 9th birthday on March 17 on the cruise!

 

[limati]

Hello Happymommy!

How great is that going to be for your daughter! Our dd will turn 10 soon after we get back. I just love being able to go on trips with our kids. We didn't take family vacations when I was younger.

What are the fish extenders used for? I want to put a few decorations on the door, but I haven't decided what to put up yet.

Look at the ticker below my signature - LESS THAN 7 MONTHS TO GO!

Lisa

 

[tecdavidt]

Add us to the group -- if the "kids" get their darn passports! See main cruise forum on that issue.

Dave (Dad)
Kathy (Mom)
Stephanie age 15
David Jr. 23
Jessica 26 David's girlfriend
Zach age 7 Jessica's son

We have been cruising on the Magic since '99. David Jr. hasn't been on the ship since he graduated from high school back in '02. He is looking forward to showing the cruise and WDW to his new family. This trip is a graduation celebration since both will be out of college.

We love cruising the Eastern the best. Feel free to ask questions about the cruise. This will be our 9th Magic cruise. We love the days at sea and the port of calls. It is hard to believe our daughter was 7 on her first Magic cruise and now she is 15 almost 16 when we go on this cruise. I have not read all the posts yet but we too have left her on the ship when we did excursions and all went well.

Temperature can vary a bit but still expect hot hot hot weather. Castaway should be hot hot hot also. Our favorite thing to do in St. Maartin (I can never spell that island's name) is to hang out on the beach over looking the pier. My husband likes to rent the wave runners. The jewelry shopping in that port is wonderful--great prices if you are into that (OK, I am guilty--I have even left the ship by myself and gone into the shopping district all by myself!). You can also buy CHEAP tropical clothing.

St. Thomas is also great for shopping. We love to walk over to Paradise Pt. Tram and spend a couple of hours up there enjoying the view and having cocktails. They also have food and a few shops. Downtown Charlotte Amalia is crowded and since we have done it so many times we now avoid it. Havensight has fantastic shops and pretty much the same as downtown. We have also stayed a week at the Marriott so we may take a taxi for lunch and enjoy walking on the beach. We have never been to Meghan's Bay (again I can't spell the name!) but we have been to St. John's. It is wonderful, and worth the trip. We also went to Coral World once. We enjoyed it. It isn't huge but we still had a great time.

I really am looking forward to this cruise. We missed being on the Magic last Spring Break due to our daughter's high school band trip to Ireland. I like to call the Magic Home Sweet Magic. We also lucked out and we have a midship cat. 3. That is my favorite location on the ship!

Just a few short months and we will be there! Kathy

 

[happymommy]

The "fish extenders" are something to hang from a fish shaped thing next to your door. I just found out about this. Some folks hang what looks like a little letter organizer from it - so others can drop notes or little gifts or something I guess. It would be a good way to drop notes for those who meet up before the cruise and want to get together on the ship I guess.

I am wanting to make door magnets, but don't quite get the photoshop - maybe I'll learn over the fall when the kids get back in school. Is there anyone who makes them for others?

 

[pop5]

Hi! Someone had asked about the teen excursion on cc....my two teens did it and loved it. I would reccomend it for sure. Are you all late of early dinner??

 

[nlm]

Add us to the group -- if the "kids" get their darn passports! See main cruise forum on that issue.

Hi Kathy! I've added you on post #8 - my first post.

Sorry to hear about the passport problems - what's the latest?

Oh, and thanks for all the great information. I'm sure I'll be asking questions as we start to get a little closer to the cruise...

Nancy

 

[nlm]

Hi! Someone had asked about the teen excursion on cc....my two teens did it and loved it. I would reccomend it for sure. Are you all late of early dinner??

Hi Paige!

We've got early dinner. My kids are used to eating around 6pm, so this works well for us.

We ate by ourselves last cruise, but it seemed like a lot of people either had big groups or were seated at tables with other people. Have you always eaten by yourself (just your group) or were you seated with others?

Nancy

 

[limati]

We have the late dining time, but we are waitlisted for the first. I'm sure it will work out fine.

Thanks for the tips Kathy. It'll be great for your travel party to be with people who know their way around.

Did anyone check the show on DCL on the Travel channel? I think we are almost at 200 days away. My dd says she likes to count down in weeks because it sounds too far away in days.

Take care,
Lisa

 

[carolmp]

Hi y'all!

Oh wait, I'm not down South anymore. We got back yesterday from our trip to the Smoky Mountains and Mammoth Cave. We had a great time, though the weather was hot, hot, hot! 102 degrees at 7:00 at night is not pleasant. Thank goodness for air conditioning!

Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge/Seiverville was unbelieveable. I had expected tourist trap, but nothing like that. We left them a large chunk of our disposable income. But we had a good time. That's what counts.

Tecdavidt, will the weather be that hot on our cruise is March?

On the dining front, we also have early dining.

Carol

 

[tecdavidt]

Hi all, great news, the "kids" have their applications all in for passports glad that is down.

carolmp the weather, It won't be as nasty hot as what you just experienced. We also had nasty hot weather here and that is not normal. The humidity was a killer. 90 plus temps with 92% humidity. Not fun then tons of rain at night. On the cruise we might get some rain but I never have had it rain all day. Just a shower or two then it goes away. It should be in the 80's and could reach 90's in St. Maartin and St. Thomas but the water temps are nice and warm but not hot.It will be humid. At least that has been my experience in the past.

Castaway Cay, I have felt the ocean cool and warm in March. It is a lot hotter in August when we cruised that month but March isn't bad. It seems like we always get an afternoon rain shower in March and then the sun comes out. The son is strong so bring a lot of your favorite sun screen.

Kathy