May 18, 2013 MAGIC EBTA - Who is with us?

[kaseyC]

Hunter will return on the 3rd of June for the last three days of school. Luckily, we don't have to worry about stringent attendance policies because he attends a private school but I know he wouldn't want to miss the last few days with his schoolmates before summer so I'm not planning on tacking any extra days onto this trip.

What grade will your girls be in next year? Hunter will be a fifth grader (doesn't seem possible) but will still be 10 at the time of the cruise.


Welcome to all the new cruisers! Our little group is growing on a daily basis, it seems.

Hailey will be 12 and just finishing up 6th grade and Hillary will be 10 and finishing up 4th grade.

Hannah probably won't have to return to school after the cruise. Our schools are usually out by May 25th or so depending on snow days. Last year we had several and this year we haven't had any so far, they tack them on to the end of the year. We don't have the school calendar for next year yet so I'm not sure if she'll miss any school at all. If it were this year, she would only miss the last day of school which is a day you go pick up your report card and leave. Last year she missed the last 7 days of school but all of her work and testing was completed. Her teacher said the only thing she would be missing was field day, movies, and fun times. She wasn't too upset, after all she was cruising!!! I never thought about taking her out and re-registering her for attendance purposes, that's a great idea. I'll have to talk to the school about that if it becomes an issue. Last year, someone did mention that we could be turned in for truancy but I told them we would pull her out and home school her for the last few days of school and suddenly it was no longer a problem. hmmmm!

Hannah will be in finishing 4th grade when we go on this trip. My little baby is growing up too fast.

Kasey- Where is Lake Villa, IL? We are from IL also but near St. Louis.

Have a great weekend everyone! And welcome aboard!

The time does go by so fast. Our school system is pretty good with taking the kids out for travel. We have never run into any problems.


Lake Villa is a northern suburb of Chicago, very close to the WI state line.

It looks like your Hannah and my Hillary are the same age!

Have a great weekend everyone!

 

[David & Jane]

Hi to our fellow ship mates

My DH and I are headed on this cruise next year! Can't wait!!, will be our 6th Disney cruise by then.

Got an Alasken cruise with a b2b to LA to look forward to first in September

Did the WBTA in 2010 looking forward to coming back the other way.

Jane & David

 

[skoi]

Hi to our fellow ship mates

My DH and I are headed on this cruise next year! Can't wait!!, will be our 6th Disney cruise by then.

Got an Alasken cruise with a b2b to LA to look forward to first in September

Did the WBTA in 2010 looking forward to coming back the other way.

Jane & David

I'll be very interested to hear how your Alaskan cruise goes. We're thinking about one in the future. Probably Princess though, because I have family I'd like to visit so we need a one way cruise ending in Whittier.

 

[claudia_oh]

We just officially joined this cruise. It will be myself (Leah) and DH (Carl). He are celebrating our 20th anniversary next year. This will be our 5th Disney Cruise and have one booked on the Fantasy 4/14/12! Super excited for both

 

[Kewz1]

Hi Kristen,

I'm from England and have travelled all over England and Scotland so if you would like any tips etc, please let me know

Sorry for going off topic everyone

Thanks, Tink! I may just take you up on the offer!

Wish I could help with this. When we did our last TA, our theme (just dd and me) was based off the old sail away party- Adventures Away. We did a door magnet with the house from Up floating over the Magic. But creativity isn't our strong point.

We have a cruise on the Fantasy coming up this Fall, and I'm ready to blow right passed it to get on this TA cruise. Horrible, isn't it?

I'm talking more about this cruise than our trip to the UK in May! I completely get you!

We just booked this! I am beyond excited

It will be me, DH, DSS (14), DS (3) and my parents. We were going to do med+greece but this seems more fun (and more economical

Hi everyone

Just signed up for this cruise this morning.

Lawrence DH

Mary DW

Elizabeth 13 (at time of cruise) DD




01/26/11 Disney Dream - Maiden Voyage
10/29/09 Disney Wonder - 3 day
03/28/09 Disney Magis - 7 day - Western Caribbean

We just officially joined this cruise. It will be myself (Leah) and DH (Carl). He are celebrating our 20th anniversary next year. This will be our 5th Disney Cruise and have one booked on the Fantasy 4/14/12! Super excited for both

to all the new folks!

Kristen

 

[heatherb819]

I have my navigators from last year if anyone is interested. I can scan them, not sure how to post them on here but I could email to you. Keep in mind there are 14 of them and 4 pages each but I don't mind, if I figure out how to do it. LOL Hannah is already saving $1 bills for room service tips, she loves getting a PBJ each day after swimming while we're all getting ready for dinner.

 

[valbob89]

Welcome to all our new fellow cruisers. There is a link to our roll call in the first posting on page one. If you post your info I will update the spreadsheet.

Those of you who have been on TAs before, are you a little disappointed that the only port of call in the Caribbean is Castaway Cay? Do you think it is because we are leaving from Galveston that we aren't stopping at least two other islands, like we have in the past? Not that we aren't thrilled to be going to Castaway Cay but we had hoped to stop at St Maarten again.

Val & Bob

 

[NancyIL]

Welcome to all our new fellow cruisers. There is a link to our roll call in the first posting on page one. If you post your info I will update the spreadsheet.

Those of you who have been on TAs before, are you a little disappointed that the only port of call in the Caribbean is Castaway Cay? Do you think it is because we are leaving from Galveston that we aren't stopping at least two other islands, like we have in the past? Not that we aren't thrilled to be going to Castaway Cay but we had hoped to stop at St Maarten again.

Val & Bob

As I recall, only the westbound Transatlantic cruises stopped in the Caribbean. The eastbound stopped in Cadiz and overnighted in Barcelona.

Yes, the reason there are fewer ports in 2013 is because it starts in Galveston and the cruise is still 14 nights.

 

[Minnie328]

There is a link to our roll call in the first posting on page one. If you post your info I will update the spreadsheet.

Me (age 21 at time of sailing) and my dad (skibum) are room 6007! From Chicago, IL. It'll be my 10th and his 11th DCL cruise.

 

[Grandma x3]

Welcome to all our new fellow cruisers. There is a link to our roll call in the first posting on page one. If you post your info I will update the spreadsheet.

Those of you who have been on TAs before, are you a little disappointed that the only port of call in the Caribbean is Castaway Cay? Do you think it is because we are leaving from Galveston that we aren't stopping at least two other islands, like we have in the past? Not that we aren't thrilled to be going to Castaway Cay but we had hoped to stop at St Maarten again.

Val & Bob

I was on the 2007 WBTA and I don't remember stopping in the Caribbean except for Castaway Cay - our stop prior was Canary Island Tenerif (spelling?)

 

[Tink1987]

I have my navigators from last year if anyone is interested. I can scan them, not sure how to post them on here but I could email to you. Keep in mind there are 14 of them and 4 pages each but I don't mind, if I figure out how to do it. LOL Hannah is already saving $1 bills for room service tips, she loves getting a PBJ each day after swimming while we're all getting ready for dinner.

Heres a link to a website where people have very kindly scanned them in....there is 14 nights worth of navigators from the WBTA in September 2010. Gives us some idea of the activities for the sea days. Me and my DB spent a happy hour or so pouring over these and trying to work out how we would fit it all in

Hopefully this will save you some work Heather

http://www.wdwinfo.com/wdwinfo/cruise-new/cr-stateroom-navigator.htm

 

[skoi]

Welcome to all our new fellow cruisers. There is a link to our roll call in the first posting on page one. If you post your info I will update the spreadsheet.

Those of you who have been on TAs before, are you a little disappointed that the only port of call in the Caribbean is Castaway Cay? Do you think it is because we are leaving from Galveston that we aren't stopping at least two other islands, like we have in the past? Not that we aren't thrilled to be going to Castaway Cay but we had hoped to stop at St Maarten again.

Val & Bob

On our EB last year we only stopped in Castaway Cay in the Caribbean. It was really strange having it as the first stop- because we're usually fixing to get off the next morning. I am a little disappointed with the fact that we're not going to Cadiz, because last time we went into Seville and didn't see Cadiz at all, and I was looking forward to doing that.

That said- we're not doing the TA for ports, but just to be on the ship for all that time, so the two extra sea days at the beginning are a plus for us. Oldest dd and I loved the six days at sea-- just being out there and knowing we were in the middle of the ocean. Everyday at noon the captain gave a report about sea depth, underwater features, ship's position by latitude and longitude and other navigational information. Maybe we're geeks that way- but I found it interesting and put it on my travel blog everyday.

 

[MandyGirl]

Those of you who have been on TAs before, are you a little disappointed that the only port of call in the Caribbean is Castaway Cay? Do you think it is because we are leaving from Galveston that we aren't stopping at least two other islands, like we have in the past? Not that we aren't thrilled to be going to Castaway Cay but we had hoped to stop at St Maarten again.

Val & Bob

Slightly... on our 2011 WBTA I coordinated a private DISboard excursion at our stop in Tortola where we took a daysail on catamarans to Jost VanDyke. (Soggy Dollar Bar on White Bay). For many, they now claim that was their favorite day of the entire cruise! But I know being from the US we can always get to the Caribbean fairly easily with flights for land vacations. Oh well... with no Caribbean stops, gives me a good reason to either plan a separate Caribbean cruise or land vacation at a different time.

And the other WBTA Caribbean port - St Martin - it seems to be becoming the new St Thomas. So commercialized and not many trees on the beaches (like St John or Bequia or other islands). Shade is super important to us. One one of our port intensive southern Caribbean cruises (out of San Juan) we used St Martin as our "day on the ship without the crowds" and took advantage of port specials in the spa. It seems so many itineraries stop there now.

I never thought about taking her out and re-registering her for attendance purposes, that's a great idea. I'll have to talk to the school about that if it becomes an issue. Last year, someone did mention that we could be turned in for truancy but I told them we would pull her out and home school her for the last few days of school and suddenly it was no longer a problem. hmmmm!

It happens a lot - I've seen it both when doing my principal internship as well as in my tutoring business now. School funding comes from average daily attendance (ADA) which is part of No Child Left Behind. In many states it is also configured into the school's accountability ratings. A couple of my online tutoring students are actresses who go to LA for pilot season each February, so they withdraw from their home campus and enroll in an online school (versus homeschooling). Depending on your state, you only have to provide a curriculum *if* asked. Even when I was in the classroom, I would have students go home to India for a month during the year. They would withdraw and re-enroll upon returning.

My whole motto is "Life is too short - live it with your kids now." And of course I'll be pulling our kindergartener out to cruise on May 18... and we have yet to receive the 2012-2013 school calendar for our district. I can technically now say the deposit was paid for the cruise prior to having school dates decided!

 

[JUSTAND]

We are undecided between this and the WBTA

 

[stlkeeler]

We are undecided between this and the WBTA

I wanted to try the WBTA next year, too. But there isn't one! (yet)

I went on the EBTA in 2010 and had a great time! The biggest downside (IMHO) to an EBTA is the loss of hours traveling east. Every day as we crossed the Atlantic, we lost an hour. I didn't seem like such a big deal before I left but that lost time really took a toll on my body (it's not as young as it used to be.) But at least you can sleep in/nap whenever you need to as there is no port to explore.

The other "good" thing about a WBTA is that you get the longest flight over with first while you're anticipating the wonderful cruise. But the EBTA was significantly cheaper!

 

[MandyGirl]

We are undecided between this and the WBTA

That's how we were originally, but figured now that our oldest will be school age it would be easier to pull her out the last week of kindergarten versus missing 3-4 weeks of first grade in the fall. (We try to tack on additional time as well to the cruise portion.)

The WBTA was definitely wonderful for that extra hour each day! Of course, we won't even know about this one for sure until my husband goes through vacation bidding in August.

 

[heatherb819]

I wanted to try the WBTA next year, too. But there isn't one! (yet)

I went on the EBTA in 2010 and had a great time! The biggest downside (IMHO) to an EBTA is the loss of hours traveling east. Every day as we crossed the Atlantic, we lost an hour. I didn't seem like such a big deal before I left but that lost time really took a toll on my body (it's not as young as it used to be.) But at least you can sleep in/nap whenever you need to as there is no port to explore.

The other "good" thing about a WBTA is that you get the longest flight over with first while you're anticipating the wonderful cruise. But the EBTA was significantly cheaper!

I was dreading the "loosing an hour" but we really didn't notice last year. Probably because I napped at the pool each day LOL. And as far as the flight goes, that was a big concern for me last year but it turned out really good because we were tired and Hannah and I slept most of the flight home because we were tired, Pat watched movies. I think if we had to fly first we would be so antsy it would seem like a never-ending flight for us. I can't imagine adjusting to an 8 hour time change in one day and setting sail. It took us 3 days to adjust once we got home from the jet-lag. I think I would rather adjust once home than while on vacation. We were all waking up at 2am raiding the fridge LOL. It was nice that we came home on Memorial day weekend last year.

 

[skoi]

We wanted to try the WB as well, thinking it'd be nice to spend a few days in Europe then get on the ship to come home. However, we wouldn't have been able to take oldest dd with us, so we're doing EB again.

I do recall on our trip last year, someone saying that on their EBTA on Carnival that they took the hour away/ set back the clock in the middle of the day, and that was much better than doing it overnight. I'd prefer it overnight, myself. I didn't feel like I was rooked out of an hour that way, just slept a little later.

And heather- your story is too funny. We did that too. In fact, the first day out of Castaway, oldest dd and I fell asleep on deck 10 and she got an awful sunburn on her lower legs.

 

[claudia_oh]

For those that have done this cruise before, do you usually rent tuxes? Not sure how this works with being gone so long?

 

[valbob89]

For those that have done this cruise before, do you usually rent tuxes? Not sure how this works with being gone so long?

Bob has rented a tux and taken his. On the long cruises he brings only one tux shirt sends the shirt out to be cleaned and pressed (no way am I going to starch and iron it). He has rented just the shoes so he didn't have to carry the size 12s.