May 10, 2008 Ship of Thieves! Stealing the Magic..AGAIN!!! Panama Canal FL to CA!!!

[txaggie94gigem]

okay...i just have to say i missed a couple days (70 pages) and i am tired of scrolling through the poll....i love the poll but after about 50 pages i am tired!

 

[lillygator]

ok trying to play catch up a bit....

do we have a website?
did the prices drop?

 

[calmom]

Ok - thought I'd introduce ourselves as we have PAID OUR DEPOSIT! So excited.

We live in the San Francisco Bay area, have four boys under 9 (DS 9, DS 7 DS 4 DS 1). We just got off the Jan. 20 Magic staying in the Roy Suite - boy was that a treat! We are in connecting 9's now, hoping one of the four Cat. 1 or 2 opens up for our family of 6. But if not, who cares! We will be having fun on deck 2 and enjoying every minute!

My husband and I have been on many cruise lines (RCCL, Celebrity, NCL, Princess) but find the DCL is just perfect for our family with the boys at their ages.

Our big issue is figuring out the school - our school is a public one, but they don't lose any funding if kids don't go to school (it has a financially strong foundation). But 10 days...argg. Only two (4th grader and 2nd grader) will be affected. I guess I feel like this is a special opportunity - we could go on another cruise line for the Panama Canal during summer time but it just wouldn't be the same. Our kids start school the last week in August so the EB wasn't an option as missing the first week of school would be too tough.
When would you all advice me to notify the school? I was thinking about waiting until right before Christmas.

The only hiccup would be if STAR testing is done while we are gone (both the testing and makeup). We can't miss that. I'm hoping it will be that second week in May, right before we leave.

Anyway, looking forward to trying to keep up with the board. Our Jan. 20 meet was so quiet! Thank you to everyone for putting in all the effort and time into this. It is great!
Lisa

 

[HollyTyler]

Amen, sistah! (Btw, is there a dress code for the 2DOD club??)

Carolyn

Good morning all! Bad Holly....getting caught up on DIS while at work!!!! Yikes!

No dress code, just have drink in hand at all times!

 

[NotSoLittleMermaid]

Ok, I have been playing with a website design, since I signed up on this thread, it is very simple, will be a place for each family to post a picture and short blurb about themselves, host a roll call (possibly with e-mails added to it,) A plans/event page and welcome/recent news page. It would have a sign-in name and password, to protect anyones private info (photos, home town, e-mails etc.)

I would think that between Laura and I we can manage to get all the info into one contained space and then we can party on this meet thread without anyone feeling they have to slog through every single post to keep up to date.

What do you all think?

Pj

(Bananaman, i don't want to hear from you, lol)

That would be great! Thanks for doing this!

 

[txaggie94gigem]

mishoe01:

we are alsa cave dwellers and i have to admit it was nice to sleep in a few days on ourlast cruise....our kids who are normally up before the sun even slept in with us to about 1000 on morning!

the easiest way to be awakened is with room service! we always ordered some coffee and juice with maybe a croissant/cereal to be delivered to wake us up...not nearly as heartstopping as the phone!

 

[Ginamarie]

I was in Panamá last october, just to visit the Miraflores Locks visitor center, and was surprised to learn that when there was the California gold rush, lots of people from the East coast in the US would travel by ship to Panamá, cross Panamá by train (just before they built the Canal) and then embark again on the other side and get to San Francisco.

I had no idea about this and found it a very interesting fact, I though everyone traveled to the West by land. Since this is part of the US history, do they teach this fact in school? Because here we were taught about the 13 Colonies, and their Independence, but that´s about it.

For those who homeschool, the official website, www.pancanal.com has a link for children where they explain how the locks work and how the ships go 26 meters over sea level to cross, and how they are lowered again.

Yes, I learned all about the canal on our lasp PC cruise. I read a book by Dabid McCullough called "Path Between the Seas." It's a great read, and really made ,e appreciate all the blood sweat and tears that went into building the canal. If you haven't read it, I'd recommend reading it before the cruise in a heartbeat.

 

[HollyTyler]

Play shuffleboard?

I'm not THAT old! I'm 36, BUT he is 24!!

 

[txaggie94gigem]

okay...i am excited that i will be seeing the POC III premier on the med cruise! but those of us that are harry potter fans need to get together too.....especially after book 7....who thinks harry will die?

 

[mygoldpaws]

You can't stop thinking about it!! This is the furthest in advance I have booked one and it will be brutal but that much more fun when you/we get there. If you haven't been on a Disney ship - you won't be disappointed. This is my 3rd trip on the Magic!

My son is already talkinag about everything to do on the ship. Luckily he already knows the ship from bow to stern but he is wearing me out more!

We will have a blast!

 

[iankh]

mishoe01:

we are alsa cave dwellers and i have to admit it was nice to sleep in a few days on ourlast cruise....our kids who are normally up before the sun even slept in with us to about 1000 on morning!

the easiest way to be awakened is with room service! we always ordered some coffee and juice with maybe a croissant/cereal to be delivered to wake us up...not nearly as heartstopping as the phone!

I found another good trick is to set the TV to the outside camera. Turn the sound off and set the timer on the TV for what time you want to wake up. It's like having an electronic porthole.

 

[txaggie94gigem]

can you see all of us shipping those little umbrella folding chairs to our cabin and taking them on deck so we don't have to wait!!!! if we order alot maybe we can get them cheaper....let's ship 200 or so to the ship (lime green of course) only for DISers to sit in!!!

 

[mom_of_2_princesses]

Ok - thought I'd introduce ourselves as we have PAID OUR DEPOSIT! So excited.

We live in the San Francisco Bay area, have four boys under 9 (DS 9, DS 7 DS 4 DS 1). We just got off the Jan. 20 Magic staying in the Roy Suite - boy was that a treat! We are in connecting 9's now, hoping one of the four Cat. 1 or 2 opens up for our family of 6. But if not, who cares! We will be having fun on deck 2 and enjoying every minute!

My husband and I have been on many cruise lines (RCCL, Celebrity, NCL, Princess) but find the DCL is just perfect for our family with the boys at their ages.

Our big issue is figuring out the school - our school is a public one, but they don't lose any funding if kids don't go to school (it has a financially strong foundation). But 10 days...argg. Only two (4th grader and 2nd grader) will be affected. I guess I feel like this is a special opportunity - we could go on another cruise line for the Panama Canal during summer time but it just wouldn't be the same. Our kids start school the last week in August so the EB wasn't an option as missing the first week of school would be too tough.
When would you all advice me to notify the school? I was thinking about waiting until right before Christmas.

The only hiccup would be if STAR testing is done while we are gone (both the testing and makeup). We can't miss that. I'm hoping it will be that second week in May, right before we leave.

Anyway, looking forward to trying to keep up with the board. Our Jan. 20 meet was so quiet! Thank you to everyone for putting in all the effort and time into this. It is great!
Lisa

Welcome!!! Liserann started a thread on this very issue and if I find the link I will post it for you. My DD's will be 11 and 5 when we cruise. IMPO I think the history that my oldest will learn will far outway missing school. We are doing an independant contract which enables the girls to miss without it counting against them. The only issue would be the state testing and to be to be frank (no flames) I could care less. It is for the schools and has no bearing on my child's grades. If she misses it and can't make it up. Oh well. The only thing that I will miss is knowing her strongest and weakest points. Us as parents can get a pretty good feel for that anyways though.

 

[NotSoLittleMermaid]

okay...i just have to say i missed a couple days (70 pages) and i am tired of scrolling through the poll....i love the poll but after about 50 pages i am tired!

Just go up to Thread Tools and choose "Show Printable Version"--much easier & faster to read!

 

[mishoe01]

mishoe01:

we are alsa cave dwellers and i have to admit it was nice to sleep in a few days on ourlast cruise....our kids who are normally up before the sun even slept in with us to about 1000 on morning!

the easiest way to be awakened is with room service! we always ordered some coffee and juice with maybe a croissant/cereal to be delivered to wake us up...not nearly as heartstopping as the phone!

That sounds like a great idea! THANKS!

 

[txaggie94gigem]

ibouncetoo....

count me in on the olives and vodka snack...the DCL popcorn is VERY BAD!!! i will be spending the next few months trying to taste some bagged popcorn near us to decide which one to send with us....

 

[NotSoLittleMermaid]

Hey Cheri! I ALMOST booked your room onboard! I had it selected, and then it disappeared before I could finish the booking.

You can stop by and visit it any time you want!

 

[HollyTyler]

I found another good trick is to set the TV to the outside camera. Turn the sound off and set the timer on the TV for what time you want to wake up. It's like having an electronic porthole.

That's a good tip! This will be my first time in an inside room. I've always had a verandah (except one time just a window). But since my son won't be with me this time, I doubt I'll be in the room long.

 

[mishoe01]

I found another good trick is to set the TV to the outside camera. Turn the sound off and set the timer on the TV for what time you want to wake up. It's like having an electronic porthole.

HI IAN!!!

Another good idea - didn't realize the TVs had timers on them....I know mine does at home.

 

[mom_of_2_princesses]

Sorry that was Disneyfans that started the thread not liserann. Here it is.http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1344696