March 31-April 7, 2007 Eastern...3rd try :-)

[dpuck1998]

I have completet the online reservation task - at least for now. As much as you think you have planned ahead - and know just what you want - the time comes and it's kind of nerve-wracking! Anyway, I was able to make ressies at Palo for brunch and dinner. We also reserved spots on the banana boats on CC and a Trunk Bay snorkle excursion in St. Thomas. I think we'll do St. Martin on our own - just find a beach and hang out. That's it so far! Any other CC members make their ressies yet? What is everyone else planning? We are only 90 days away from our cruise!!!

Tell me more, what age is required for the Banana Boats? Trunk Bay in St. Thomas? Is that a Disney excursion? We recently changed to late seating since we aren't traveling with an 2 yo anymore. Shes staying with grandma.

 

[minniesota]

The St. John Trunk Bay Beach and Snorkle Tour is a Disney excursion (ages 5 and up). Trunk Bay is supposed to be beautiful and since we didn't get there last time, we thought we'd try it this year. We are still looking into heading to St. John's on our own and would then cancel this excursion. I just like the security of a Disney excursion when there are timelines involved!

The Banana Boats are a huge inflatable raft-like tubes that holds about 20 people. A jet-ski pulls the raft around Relay Bay and around the ship - it is apparently a fast and bumpy ride and many riders get tossed off when hitting the waves. This is right up my kids' alley! You must be 8 and older and comfortable in the water should you get bumped/tossed off.

In St. Maarten, we want to find a beach with some wave action because our kids love body-surfing, waves, etc. I've heard Orient Beach can provide pretty good waves but my kids feel uncomfortable about the nudity there so we are still researching.

Oh, I also made a Couples Choice ressie in the Spa Villas. I've done some reading on these and it sounds fabulous! Pretty pricey, however, but almost all of the reviews I've read say it's worth the price. I'll be talking this one over with DH! I know he wouldn't like going to the spa but this is a private treatment stateroom with a hot tub on the veranda. Sounds heavenly to me!

Let me know if anyone else has questions.

 

[dpuck1998]

Minn, do you know how the trunk differs from the 5 star? If I'm reading it correctly one is a shore snorkel and one is an open water? Make sense?

 

[minniesota]

Yes, but I think the 5 Star will get you to the beach on inflatable dinghies if you want. We took the 5 Star in 2004 but the captain took us to a St. James Island rather than Trunk Bay. He said he'd hear from lifeguards at Trunk the water was too rough. Our snorkle experience was really poor at St. James. We could swim to a little beach area but got into the water from the boat in about 15 feet of water. The thing is other people on our cruise took the Trunk Bay excursion that same day and had a fabulous time. They said the water was calm! So I have a bad impression of the 5 Star though it had great reviews. I think both excursion are pretty popular.

 

[delaneysmom]

Good God. I can't believe how little I know. We won't be paying the rest of our payment for another few weeks...aaaack! I'm so overwhelmed. I don't know what to do!

 

[minniesota]

delaney's mom
Breathe deep! The great thing about the cruise is you can do as little or as much as you want to do. The first time we went, we (rather I) felt too scheduled so I had to back off a couple of days into the trip. The main decisions to make at this time are whether you want to take any excursions. There are a lot of people who do not take any and either walk around the ports on their own or just hang out on the ship. I wouldn't do a planned excursion on St. Martin and St. Thomas - too much running with the herds!
I would do an excursion on one of the islands and then just go explore a little on your own at the second port. On Castaway Cay, it's mostly all about relaxing unless you want to rent tubes, snorkle equipment, etc. Or go parasailing, fishing or on the Banana Boats.

Some people really enjoy going to brunch or dinner at Palo - the adults only restaurant. That requires reservations and you can make those online (on the DCL website) at 75 days out if you are paid in full. If you can't make a ressie online, they do hold ressies open and you can make them when you board.

You can also make spa ressies online when you are paid in full. They can also be made on the ship but things/times do fill up.

If you have any specific questions, please ask. Otherwise, get a copy of the Passporter Disney Cruise book, read the FAQs on this board or check out the castaway club website. You would type in both words together and then .com. (Not sure if we can post that site!)

Planning should be fun, not overwhelming!

 

[ScrapinDisney]

It seems like it's been so long since I'vce been online here. Hi everyone! The holidays have just been crazy but I'm ready to cruise!!! LOL We still haven't made airline flights doesn't look like its going down either (almost $500 each)
I started making my ressie's online since we paid off the cruise on December 30th. Still not sure what we are doing except for parasailing on CC for sure. Hubby doesn't know it yet but I booked him also! Got DD#2 signed into the club book a brunch at Palo, haven't decided if we should do a dinner also. last time we tried brunch and it was yummy! I just don't want to miss out on dinner at Luminere's (my favorite) I wish we could figure out our dining rotation.
Count down begins folks!!! whoohoo!!!!!

 

[dpuck1998]

I just paid off my two rooms yesterday

I'm sitting here finalizing plans for being at the world in just over two weeks and also getting ready to make my cruise ressies on the 15th. whew...too much to do...but at least its a good busy!!

When do we get our dining rotation? Do we get it before we board??

 

[minniesota]

Hi fellow cruisers-

You don't find out your dinner rotation until you get your keys at the terminal - which I think is something Disney should change! You can request a specific rotation - and you can try to get it changed once onboard. We made our Palo dinner ressies for Wednesday night so that we will have dined in every restaurant at least once beforehand. I'm really looking forward to Palo - it was wonderful last time, brunch and dinner! And it's a nice break from what I found to be pretty noisy dining rooms.

We're getting excited here, too!

 

[ScrapinDisney]

I wish we could get the rotation earlier, if for no other reason than to play Palo's! LOL Minnie...when are you doing brunch? I booked us 11:30 on Monday.
On a sad note, did you all read about the 13 yr old on the Wonder? Please talk to your kids and make them aware!!!! Even though it's "Disney" anything can happen. I told my girls last night and although they rolled their eyes, they then said how scarey for that girl and we talked about all the dangers and what to do.

 

[dpuck1998]

I wish we could get the rotation earlier, if for no other reason than to play Palo's! LOL Minnie...when are you doing brunch? I booked us 11:30 on Monday.
On a sad note, did you all read about the 13 yr old on the Wonder? Please talk to your kids and make them aware!!!! Even though it's "Disney" anything can happen. I told my girls last night and although they rolled their eyes, they then said how scarey for that girl and we talked about all the dangers and what to do.

I didn't hear about it?? Do you have a link to the story?

 

[minniesota]

ScrapinDisney
We made brunch ressies for Monday at 10:30 I think. Looking forward to it!

I saw the thread about the 13-year old girl and plan to talk to my kids about it too. It's too bad that we have to always be on guard.

Did you make any excursion ressies?

 

[ScrapinDisney]

I booked the 4 of us on the parasailing at CC but not sure the kids and I can talk hubby into doing it! LOL That's the only thing I have booked so far. As far as the rest of our travel group, not sure what their plans are, I know my sister wants to do the parasailing too but haven't heard if she has booked anything yet. What about everyone else??? Have you all booked excursions yet?

 

[dpuck1998]

I still have 6 more days until I can book anything :-( My DS 7 really wants to go parasailing so I think I will book that and do it with him. See Ya there scrapin! Maybe we will share a boat...any idea what time your going?

I'll be up at 3 am a week from today to book...then I leave the next day for West Palm Beach!

 

[ScrapinDisney]

I think we booked the 1030 or maybe it was 1130 I'll have to check my reservations. Should be a fun time!

 

[YenSid1222]

Hello Again Everyone,

Hope all the holidays were great for you!

Even though I am one month away from my first cruise..I am trying to plan out this second one at the same time!

Is anyone really familiar with St. Maarten? I am kind of a freak for passenger planes (I guess its good I work for an airline ) and the airport in St. Maarten is famous for how close the beach is to the runway. I really want to try and go to that spot where the jetwash blows people into the water and the planes landing are SO close you can almost touch them it seems! Does anyone know how far it is from where we will dock to the airport? Is there transportation that gets you around easy, or are you stuck with cabs?

Look forward to seeing everyone in a bit!!

 

[ScrapinDisney]

Hello Again Everyone,

Hope all the holidays were great for you!

Even though I am one month away from my first cruise..I am trying to plan out this second one at the same time!

Is anyone really familiar with St. Maarten? I am kind of a freak for passenger planes (I guess its good I work for an airline ) and the airport in St. Maarten is famous for how close the beach is to the runway. I really want to try and go to that spot where the jetwash blows people into the water and the planes landing are SO close you can almost touch them it seems! Does anyone know how far it is from where we will dock to the airport? Is there transportation that gets you around easy, or are you stuck with cabs?

Look forward to seeing everyone in a bit!!

We did the one cruise in 2005 out of California and this is only our second cruise. I have no idea what to expect from any of the ports, sorry. We finally got our flights...ouch!

 

[minniesota]

This was from a thread posted in late 2005. Hope it helps answer some questions for you:

"We spent a great 6 hrs at Maho Beach in March. We took a taxi from the ship to the beach - which took about 20mins. There is a great bar/bbq which gets very busy around lunchtime when the large planes (including Jumbos)start arriving. There is a notice board where it lists the times of flight arrivals for that day. We saw lots of planes, while sipping our Corona's and lazing on the beautiful beach on sun-beds under a parasol. For those of you who are interested in planes (like hubby) it is a really great opportunity to see these "monsters" arriving at close range. Not really a day for small children though: The beach dips quickly into the sea and the sand is very soft and you can sink into it very quickly near the water. There are plenty of nice shops near the beach too.

Just a word of warning: DONT leave the beach later than 2hrs before the ship is due to leave, as there is a bridge on route back which opens mid afternoon. It is not unknown for people to miss their ships, having left too late to get back to the ship.

This day was a highlight of our cruise............and would certainly recommend it. Be sure to take sun lotion though, as it can get very hot there, and there are only limited parasols available. For 2 beds/cushions and parasol we paid $14. Well worth it in our opinion.

Got LOADS of great photos too. Have fun."
__________________

 

[dpuck1998]

Well, if my calculations are correct I'll be up at 3 am tonight!! Wish me luck. Any thoughts on what I should book first? I was planning on Palo first then kids then excursions. What days should I shoot for at Palo? Do they have brunch everyday?

 

[minniesota]

Yes, my sister will be joining you at 2 a.m. - this is her first cruise and we are trying to coordinate Palo and excursions, etc. We don't have to worry about signing up for the kids club though - all teens.

Palo brunch is only on sea days - Sunday, Monday and Thursday. On our first cruise, we had brunuch on the same day as our character breakfast (those were the days when you made ressies upon boarding -AFTER you knew your rotation!) ANyway, we enjoyed a cup of coffee/glass of juice while the kids ate breakfast (sort of!) We had plenty of opportuniuty to take photos. Once they were done, we got them settled in an activity and we went to Palo. It was so relaxing...and delicious!

This time, we opted for brunch on Monday. Seas are usually calm and Sunday just seemed too soon in the trip. Thursday would be my second choice but I have noticed there is more of a chance for rocky seas on Thursday - and that was our experience last time.

Which leads me to a tip - start taking Bonine (Meclizine is the gerneric) a day or two before you cruise. We took one at breakfast every day (we cut them in half for our kids) and never had a problem with seasickness. On Thursday of our Eastern cruise, people were falling like flies because the boat was really rocking and rolling. But we never felt a thing! Don't take dramamine - it will make you sleep.

Good luck with your ressies everyone and let us know what you get!

Dpuck- have a great time in WDW!!!