May 11th 2008 ~ Any Double Dippers Out There?

[garys12]

So does this mean that an upgrade on board may be in someone's future??? Does the Vegas $20 trick work onboard the Disney Wonder?

Hey - I mentioned about my daughter's dress - should i surprise my family and get a tux for formal nite to go with her dress???

GS

 

[disneyfool_1202]

So long, farewell, auf Wiedersehen, adieu... ...to you and you and you!

Oh COME ON!!!! Now THAT is stuck in my head - and I haven't watched that movie in over 10 yerars!!!!

 

[alecsmom]

Hey - I mentioned about my daughter's dress - should i surprise my family and get a tux for formal nite to go with her dress???

GS

Aww how sweet! I think that would be so cool! I just told my husband yesterday though that he wouldn't be needing his tux on this cruise because I thought there was no "formal" night - am I mistaken? We love any excuse to get all dressed up!

 

[momof4ngls]

Aww how sweet! I think that would be so cool! I just told my husband yesterday though that he wouldn't be needing his tux on this cruise because I thought there was no "formal" night - am I mistaken? We love any excuse to get all dressed up!

Nope, no formal night, just a "dressy" night. I've read that people dress up in varying degrees for that as well, though. For the adults, there is always dinner at Palo, I suppose you could dress formally for that! That wouldn't work for Gary and his daughter, though.

I say, if you want to dress in formal attire, then GO FOR IT!!! Mind you, I've never been on a cruise, though.

 

[Tarabra]

Yea, I don't think there is a formal night on the Wonder, just a dress up night. We'll be dressing up, although DH won't be wearing a tux. He's actually never gotten one for the cruise. But I'm sure your DD would love it.

I was thinking about getting an upgrade too! That would be nice. We usually always cruise the end of April beginning of May and may have gotten upgraded once. Just to a split bath. We are using DVC points so I wonder if they would upgrade us. Geez...they should after 6 cruises. This is #7. I would love to do an outside room. We tried to book for the Apr. 26 (I think that was the date) Eastern and it was totally booked.

 

[disneyfool_1202]

Do the Disney shuttles have seatbelts? I'm debating whether or not to bring our carseats. I don't want to check them at the airport (I'm hoping to buy a CARES Harness for the little guy to use on the plane) and risk them being damaged with careless handling. I also don't want to have to carry them around and store them on the ship, if we won't even have any use for them. The thought of my children riding in a bus with no seatbelt horrifies me, but somethings are beyond our control.

I'm in the same boat with my 2y/o. CARES is $75 and to spend that much for two flights just can't be justified. The DCL and ME trasnport busses do not allow for car seats- they have to be stored underneath. They are luxury coaches though (2 comphy seats on each side) so they may actually have seat belts. DD will most likely fly with the regular seat belt. Her brother did at the same age she is now and he did fine. I'll be seated between the both of them to ensure they stay buckled.

 

[momof4ngls]

I'm in the same boat with my 2y/o. CARES is $75 and to spend that much for two flights just can't be justified. The DCL and ME trasnport busses do not allow for car seats- they have to be stored underneath. They are luxury coaches though (2 comphy seats on each side) so they may actually have seat belts. DD will most likely fly with the regular seat belt. Her brother did at the same age she is now and he did fine. I'll be seated between the both of them to ensure they stay buckled.

You can rent the CARES on Ebay for much less, I just don't know if I want to do that. I might buy one and then rent IT out when we get back. LOL I just know MY son and know it's likely going to be difficult to keep him buckled in without something like that. He's much more adventurous and headstrong than all our others. As a matter of fact, he's jumping from the recliner to the couch and back again as I type.

 

[branv]

Mmmmmmm...wouldn't an upgrade be dandy fine? For our first cruise we were upgraded from a 12 to a cat 9 (with the 2 small port holes). I actually really enjoyed being on deck 1 -- very quiet. But, I know there's no predicting it, so I'll just assume we'll still be in steerage with the rest of the cat 12's...pshhhht, hey man, I'll take a bathroom stall to sleep in if it means I'm on DCL.

Gary -- don't think the $20 trick would work b/c I think I read they're only allowed to do upgrades (which you still have to purchase, though at a discount) at one place at check-in, which is to the far right of the counter. And even that is usually closed. I know it was during our cruise. Tarabra -- have you ever seen it open?

 

[disneyfool_1202]

An upgrade would be fantastic- but we have adjourning rooms with my mom so I don't think we'd even be in the running for an upgrade. Still.... it's nice to Dream. After all, isn't this the year of a million dreams?

 

[momof4ngls]

Mmmmmmm...wouldn't an upgrade be dandy fine? For our first cruise we were upgraded from a 12 to a cat 9 (with the 2 small port holes). I actually really enjoyed being on deck 1 -- very quiet. But, I know there's no predicting it, so I'll just assume we'll still be in steerage with the rest of the cat 12's...pshhhht, hey man, I'll take a bathroom stall to sleep in if it means I'm on DCL.

Gary -- don't think the $20 trick would work b/c I think I read they're only allowed to do upgrades (which you still have to purchase, though at a discount) at one place at check-in, which is to the far right of the counter. And even that is usually closed. I know it was during our cruise. Tarabra -- have you ever seen it open?

We have connecting cat 9s with the portholes. I'm really glad we have those instead of the big picture window because of the littles. I'd figure out the others if they upgraded us or something, of course, but it will be nice to know I don't have to worry about the littles with the portholes.

 

[disneyfool_1202]

We have connecting cat 9s with the portholes. I'm really glad we have those instead of the big picture window because of the littles. I'd figure out the others if they upgraded us or something, of course, but it will be nice to know I don't have to worry about the littles with the portholes.

We have connecting cat 9's also! I thought we had one big porthole though.

 

[branv]

We have connecting cat 9s with the portholes. I'm really glad we have those instead of the big picture window because of the littles. I'd figure out the others if they upgraded us or something, of course, but it will be nice to know I don't have to worry about the littles with the portholes.

Yikes Those things are made to withstand hurricanes, are your little ones that much more of a force of nature I know in one hour my brother could cause more damage than a tornado on any given day.

Disneyfool -- only the cat 9's on deck 1 are double port holes, the rest are the single big one. What I find interesting is that though neither of the window types open, the little windows on deck 1 have metal plate covers you can seal over them. Makes you wonder...

 

[momof4ngls]

Yikes Those things are made to withstand hurricanes, are your little ones that much more of a force of nature I know in one hour my brother could cause more damage than a tornado on any given day.

Disneyfool -- only the cat 9's on deck 1 are double port holes, the rest are the single big one. What I find interesting is that though neither of the window types open, the little windows on deck 1 have metal plate covers you can seal over them. Makes you wonder...

It's the fact that they'll each have one to look through instead of fighting over whose turn it is to look, etc. Plus the nightmares I'd have of them falling through or something.

I like the idea of being able to cover those windows completely to shut out any sun during the day, if the boys need to get some sleep.

 

[disneyfool_1202]

Oh... that makes sense. We're on deck 2.
I've never been that 'low' to the bottom of the ship so I'm a bit nervous and don't know what to expect but I figure I'm only there to sleep and I'll most likely be so tired I"ll sleep through anything at that point!

 

[Tarabra]

Brandi,

Chances are excellent that you will get an upgrade if you are Ctgy. 12. You will most definitely get an 11. You'll find out probably Apr. 11 if you are upgraded. We found out exactly 1 month before when we had a 12 and got an 11. I've never seen the line for the upgrades. I just never paid attention I guess. I'm just hoping they dole out a freebie for us. I would never pay for one. Too cheap...and we never spend anytime in the rooms anyway. Just be sure you bring a light up clock or night light for the inside rooms. That's the worst part...waking up at like 10!!! DS is like a little alarm clock and is up around 7 every day, so we'll see how he does in the dark!!! Maybe he'll sleep through the night!!! OH that would be glorious!!!

As far as flying...DD was 20 months and 2.5 when she flew and did great both times. I was surprised because she is pretty active. I found a Mickey write on/wipe off book that she loved. She hadn't seen it beforehand. She slept most of the time because we had to be at the airport at 5 a.m. I found it interesting that when I had her on my lap I put the seat belt over her and they told me not to do that. A little scary. I just can't think about the flying part too much. I'm not afraid once I'm up there, but if I think about it...I get a little nervous. I've been known to bite DH's knuckles a few times. Not quite sure why. I guess because I'm holding his hand and they just happen to be there!!

 

[alecsmom]

I found it interesting that when I had her on my lap I put the seat belt over her and they told me not to do that. A little scary. I just can't think about the flying part too much. I'm not afraid once I'm up there, but if I think about it...I get a little nervous. I've been known to bite DH's knuckles a few times. Not quite sure why. I guess because I'm holding his hand and they just happen to be there!!

Oh my gosh that just brought back memories for me - I can totally sympathize with you about it being scary to have no seatbelt on your child. When my son was 18 months old we flew to Hawaii - an 8 HOUR TRIP for us. So on our first leg to Dallas I happily placed my son on my lap and placed the seatbelt over both of us - and I swear the flight attendant came running over immediately and yelling at me DON'T DO THAT! IT GOES OVER YOU NOT THE CHILD!! I was so embarrassed and mad at the same time Sheesh what kind of safety is that?? All in all my son did really really well considering we had such long flights - but my DH and I were the ONLY ones up on the entire flights over there and back - everyone else got to nap, rest, etc. We took a portable DVD player, which kept him entertained for a while, some toys, walked him back and forth to the restroom (about a million times), he never cried or made too much noise, the people in front of us commented how good he was. It was a very interesting experience to say the least, but hey as a parent you do what you gotta do.

 

[branv]

I've never been that 'low' to the bottom of the ship so I'm a bit nervous and don't know what to expect but I figure I'm only there to sleep and I'll most likely be so tired I"ll sleep through anything at that point!

Well a good thing about being that low is that you're less likely to feel the motion of the ocean. Doesn't matter to some people, but since I'm motion-sensitive I was all for it

Brandi,

Just be sure you bring a light up clock or night light for the inside rooms. That's the worst part...waking up at like 10!!! DS is like a little alarm clock and is up around 7 every day, so we'll see how he does in the dark!!! Maybe he'll sleep through the night!!! OH that would be glorious!!!

I'm not afraid once I'm up there, but if I think about it...I get a little nervous. I've been known to bite DH's knuckles a few times. Not quite sure why. I guess because I'm holding his hand and they just happen to be there!!

DH would LOVE a lightless room -- he'd live in a cave if he could. That's so not me. I did read that if you turn your TV to the channel that shows the outside deck, it will start to lighten your room as the sun rises. If we don't get upgraded to a window, I will do that and DH can just take his diva-style sleep mask

I WILL absolutely bring along a light-up travel clock for this trip. I HATED waking up and not knowing what time it was.

I had to laugh at the mental image of you gnawing on your DH's knuckles. I would tell someone I'm not afraid of flying...it's landing I hate! Not sure why, and it's only been in the last 10 years that it's been an issue for me. One time this guy sitting next to us saw me clutching DH's arm and started lecturing me on how flying is very safe, that landing is probably the most safe part of it all. And just as he's saying this, we touched down, bounced really hard about 3 times and everyone in the plane was jerked forward quite hard like the pilot had seriously slammed on the brakes. Boy did he look embarrassed

 

[momof4ngls]

A child is more likely to be injured by a seatbelt placed around him AND another person. If you hit turbulance, and get jerked around, all your weight is pushing against that seatbelt. If you have a child buckled in it with you, then your weight is pushing against the child and pinning him between you and the seatbelt. He is much more likely to end up with internal injuries than if he's in a seatbelt by himself.

The last time I flew we hit some wild turbulance and several times my tush left my seat while I was just sitting there. If I'd had a child in my lap and in my seatbelt, that child would have been squashed between me and the seatbelt. Their little bodies are just not equipped to act as an airbag between us and the belt.

There ARE some harnesses you can purchase to buckle a little one to you while sitting in your lap, but they aren't safe for take-off or landing. Baby B'Air is one.

I'm sure that's why the flight attendants reacted the way they did. I don't understand them not being polite to you about it, though, and explaining why it's not a good idea. BTW, an adult seatbelt on a young child can be very dangerous too because it hits their bodies in the wrong place and the force of turbulance of an accident would be focussed wrong, instead of spread out over the larger body surface.

There is a CARES harness on Ebay right now that is already over $60 and it's been used on one trip. So, I'm thinking I'll just go ahead and invest in one and then either sell it or rent it on Ebay when I know I'll no longer need it. I just wish they'd come out with one for the older ones before the trip. My 4 year old is right at the cut-off weight, but he would still be safer, and better contained, in a harness.

 

[alecsmom]

Oh I certainly understand the safety concerns now. But as a young mom I sure didn't appreciate being scolded in front of everyone on the airplane. You would think that airline employees would have more tact. But you live and learn right? It just amazes me that there isn't a better standarized way to deal with our precious little ones in the air. Anyway what is the cut off weight of your 4 year old? Now you have me thinking!

 

[momof4ngls]

Oh I certainly understand the safety concerns now. But as a young mom I sure didn't appreciate being scolded in front of everyone on the airplane. You would think that airline employees would have more tact. But you live and learn right? It just amazes me that there isn't a better standarized way to deal with our precious little ones in the air. Anyway what is the cut off weight of your 4 year old? Now you have me thinking!

Girl, I don't blame you one bit for being upset/annoyed for the way that flight attendant treated you!! I don't understand why people think they have to treat others that way, especially their customers!

You can read about CARES here: CARES But the harness is meant for children from 22-44 pounds. My two year old is only 26 pounds, so I have plenty of time for him to use it, but my four year old is 48 pounds. They have height restrictions as well, so if you are considering the harness, be sure to check out that info. Also remember that it is only good for use in an airplane, although it is the only harness approved for use during take-off and landing. It also keep you from having to lug those awkward carseats around the airport.