March 22-29, 2008 - Here Before You Know It!

[lizg123]

Hi March 22 cruisers!
I don't think anyone has told you about another DIS board called Passing It On.
This is a wonderful idea that someone had. The idea is to pass on items that you would normally throw away and not want to pack to take home. This could include sand toys, bottles of water, unopened snacks, laundry detergent, among others. They have been doing this for about 4 weeks now and it seems to work great. I have signed up to be the designated person on the March 15-22 cruise. I would love to have a contact person to leave a box for on this cruise. If you are interested go to the board and read the messages. You can post your name there and jsheridan will add you to the list. I hope you have a great cruise, I know I am really looking forward to ours!
Liz G
P.S. I can't posts the link to the board so you will need to search for it. Sorry!

 

[lizg123]

Hi March 22 cruisers!
I don't think anyone has told you about another DIS board called Passing It On.
This is a wonderful idea that someone had. The idea is to pass on items that you would normally throw away and not want to pack to take home. This could include sand toys, bottles of water, unopened snacks, laundry detergent, among others. They have been doing this for about 4 weeks now and it seems to work great. I have signed up to be the designated person on the March 15-22 cruise. I would love to have a contact person to leave a box for on this cruise. If you are interested go to the board and read the messages. You can post your name there and jsheridan will add you to the list. I hope you have a great cruise, I know I am really looking forward to ours!
Liz G
P.S. I can't posts the link to the board so you will need to search for it. Sorry!

 

[JerseyBelle]

Hi All, I'm new to the DISboard. Don't know why I haven't joined before since we've been fans of traveling Disney-style for a few years.

Looking forward to our first DCL cruise with all of you! I'll be traveling with DH, DS (10) and DD (5).

Since I'm DCL "newbie" last night was (finally!) our day to book shore excursions. I was up til midnight--yawn! Not sure how well I did. Palo brunch and tea ressies were long gone.

I'm enjoying all of your wisdom!

Welcome whamma. My dd10 is really looking forward to the cruise. I see you have a DS10. This is great. It is our second cruise and our first 7 night.

 

[brendat22]

Does anyone know if DCL will do anything for the kids for Easter? I was thinking that they may do Easter baskets but since it is a religious holiday I thought maybe not?? I think someone posted that they did the Easter cruise last year......did they do anything special? Thanks!

 

[akarts]

I don't know what to do for my boys on Easter...they don't need candy because they have food everywhere on the cruise. Maybe an arcade card for each of them...what is everyone else doing? I was looking at some navigators as far as the church service goes and it seems they have an interdenominational service on regular Sundays from 9 to 9:45.

I got my Palo dinner ressies in before the price increase from 10 to 15 a person. No go on the brunch but did get high tea. We didn't get to go to Palo our first cruise...4 night, so this will be nice.

We are doing Key West on our own, but taking the kids on the "Hell" tour at Grand Cayman in the morning, then a beach on our own. Any thoughts on what beach is closest to the dock in Grand Cayman? I'm at a loss at what to do in Mexico. CC is a lounging beach day for us...a haymock and a frosty drink is my wish!

 

[MN Dis Fans]

akarts: Excellent idea on the arcade card!
Both my 2x are video junkies and would love this. Historically, I have kind of kept them out of the arcade room, as there is so much to do on the boat! (for free) They Love doing the foosball on Deck 9, and in Diversions when Dad is having a "frosty bevvie!"

"Hell" is at the North end of the Island, and you go right by "7-mile beach" pretty much the whole way there. Check out the cruise critic website. There are lots of thread on the best beach to go to in the Caymans.

Another good reference I like to use is Google Earth. You can zoom right into the Caymans, beaches, "Hell", etc. and it gives you a real good idea of where everything is, and also has pictures you can click on to see the locations!

 

[ICEMANPAD]

Just an FYI, having been to Hell, and back, on the most recent Turkey Day cruise, it is a 10 minute max waste of time, although the turtle farm nearby is very nice for an hour or so. As noted above, 7 mile beach is nice, but I believe public access is fairly limited. We did Stingray City, and there is decent shopping in Georgetown. We are on the boat heading east the week after your trip.

 

[DisneyMom92]

Having been to "Hell" and back, I agree with the previous poster who says it's a 10 minute waste of time....sort of. My kids loved the fact that there was every play on the word "hell" possible, and souvenirs include postcards and t - shirts they can't wear anywhere but home, but it gives them a chuckle when they wear it. Basically it's a tourist trap but kinda fun for the moment.

Just my 2 cents.

 

[JerseyBelle]

I got my Palo dinner ressies in before the price increase from 10 to 15 a person. :

When you say you got your reservation in before the price increase are you saying that we pay $10 per person when we sail in March and not the $15 if we reserved when it was $10? Not that it makes much difference since we will tip more, I was just curious.

 

[akarts]

if I understand correctly in the post about Palo ...if you already reserved before the price increase the $10 price will be honored, otherwise it is $15 for brunch and dinner per person.

I too have been to "hell" pre-kids with my husband (plus the turtle farm...loved this /rum factory...really loved this ) and think that my kids will get a huge kick out of it. Plus mom and dad want to visit the rum factory!

 

[MN Dis Fans]

I check the NASA website out every couple of days. It's my dream to see a shuttle launch from the back of Deck 10 whilst we're in port some day.
I know they have been having some fuel sensor problems with the shuttles, and the last several times I looked, it said launches To be announced, or words to that effect. Well today I look, and there is a shuttle launch scheduled for Mid-march+ What do you suppose the chance would be for a shuttle launch on the 22nd?

 

[JerseyBelle]

We have an early flight out of Philadelphia and will be able to get to the ship earlier than our previous cruise. When we cruised in November 06, we barely arrived before the life jacket drill. If all goes as planned we will be in Orlando by mid morning.

 

[DisneyMom92]

They have set the date of on of the shuttle launch for 3/21. Chances are that it won't be that date or even while we are there, but I am keeping my eye on it too. We saw one from afar a couple years ago and it is really cool to see.

My 12ds has a penpal and now my 15dd wants one too. Any 15 year olds on board who are game for a new friend before we cruise. She is in a pretty strong relationship but doesn't have problems making friends with boys or girls. She is outgoing and friendly, sometimes a little overbearing but usually funny and kind.

I made our airline ressies today. We are flying in the day before into Tampa. Savings was nearly half over MCO, even though that is one of my favorite airports to fly into. We have never flown into Tampa but a trip report recommended it and the savings was phenomenal.

 

[dlf246]

We have an early flight out of Philadelphia and will be able to get to the ship earlier than our previous cruise. When we cruised in November 06, we barely arrived before the life jacket drill. If all goes as planned we will be in Orlando by mid morning.

JerseyBelle: Did you get the info by mail, or did you call DCL? You will love DCL doing the arranging. I am one person who felt their handling everything was worth the $ when we did that in '06

 

[MN Dis Fans]

They have set the date of on of the shuttle launch for 3/21. Chances are that it won't be that date or even while we are there, but I am keeping my eye on it too. We saw one from afar a couple years ago and it is really cool to see.

DisneyMom92: Where did you see the launch date set?
Looking at the Launch Schedule on the Nasa site, it still says, mid-March+
Am I missing something?
You're right about the chances of it happening whilst we're there, but a guy can hope, can't he?

 

[JerseyBelle]

JerseyBelle: Did you get the info by mail, or did you call DCL? You will love DCL doing the arranging. I am one person who felt their handling everything was worth the $ when we did that in '06

Our TA at AAA called to tell us she was mailing us the Disney package with our our flight information. With AAA, everything comes through them first. The DCL website for our reservation has no flight info but I thought it did last time. We used Disney air and ground transportation for our 11/06 cruise too and felt at ease because of it. I do think it is worth the extra $. Since the flight is so early, we will likely stay at a hotel at the airport on Good Friday.

Another smart thing that we did for our 11/6 cruise was use a porter when we left the ship at the end. Apparently this isn't going to be necessary any longer with the on board checking of luggage for airlines starting this month. I am going to watch the DIS for information on how this is working out.

 

[DisneyMom92]

that is scheduled to launch while we are there. I actually use the Kennedy Space Center website to check launch schedules. It's pretty accurate, subject to the million delays they always have.

Here's the link I use:http://www.kennedyspacecenter.com/launches/scheduleStatus.asp

 

[HFC1969]

Ok...

How many are going to book their next cruise on the Easter 08... and when are you thinking of booking??

 

[DisneyMom92]

We haven't decided when yet, but we will probably rebook while onboard. We may do next Spring Break, which will not be Easter next year, since Easter is so late. I didn't even realize we were sailing Easter this year until much after rebooking.

 

[MN Dis Fans]

We Booked 2009 for X-Mas when the 2009 dates came out. I plan on taking my confirmations with me, and re-booking same cabins on board, and getting the 10% discount. They did this for me last year, and I saved $700 for our 2x SPH rooms. Hopefully they will do it again for me this year!

Anybody else REALLY wanting to be in the Caribbean today? Can you say "Bahama Mama?" I know my DW can! I'll be quite content to wander around with my refillable mug!

It's -20F in MN. So cold in fact, it's gone off scale on my weather station!