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

[kaseyC]

these are the people who expressed they would like to sign up for linked dining on previous posts, if I posted incorrectly please let me know

Linked dining

LATE DINING

binkytell. Sarah, dh, dd11, dd2
mandygirl Mandy, dh, dd6, dd3
tubbersteruk. Paul, DW, dd4
kyrasmommy. DW, dh, dd10, ds5
heatherb819 heather, dh, dd10
nitrame 3a, dd9, dd6
hmhaaseDW, dh, dd6
saracat Sara, dh


MAIN DINING

kaseyc Kasey, dd12, dd10
viking53 chuck, DW, dd5

We are moving to Late dining but we still want to be linked. I put in the request to my TA just haven't heard back yet. Thanks Sarah for taking care of all of this.

 

[kaseyC]

Only once in 14 nights were we offered coffee as the dining room
Was empty by the time we got dessert

I would be ticked. Coffee and dessert are my favorite part of dinner!

 

[MandyGirl]

these are the people who expressed they would like to sign up for linked dining on previous posts, if I posted incorrectly please let me know

Linked dining

LATE DINING

binkytell. Sarah, dh, dd11, dd2
mandygirl Mandy, dh, dd6, dd3
tubbersteruk. Paul, DW, dd4
kyrasmommy. DW, dh, dd10, ds5
heatherb819 heather, dh, dd10
nitrame 3a, dd9, dd6
hmhaaseDW, dh, dd6
saracat Sara, dh


MAIN DINING

kaseyc Kasey, dd12, dd10
viking53 chuck, DW, dd5

You ROCK, Sarah!!!

With my name, please add MIL as well. We are making her final payment today - and already purchased airfare - so she is definitely onboard. Couldn't coerce FIL to come too, but she will definitely love the cruise.

 

[gramfrog]

Thanks for organising the linked dinning

As for the FE - I am happy for 15-20 staterooms per group, I think 25 might be pushing it for what I have planned but I will of course be happy with the general consensus. Thanks again for settling this early so we can make a start

We are leaving on the Magic this week (9 nights) . Our FE is organized to be 9 in a group so that each day one family is assigned to deliver. Maybe if this 14 night voyage has 14 families in each FE group? Just sayin'

 

[MandyGirl]

We are leaving on the Magic this week (9 nights) .

Have fun!! This will be the first 8-night itinerary, right? Key West, PC and CC? I booked some friends on that itinerary for late April, so have been keeping an eye out for any pointers to tell them.

Hopefully no fog for you guys - this past weekend was craziness!

 

[binkytell]

Awesome!! Glad transportation will be working out using DCL

We are getting several little princesses who are 6 years old at late dinner it looks like! Binkytell (Sarah) is coordinating getting that together, and she will pop on here. She's in Scotland, so probably snoozing right now. Be sure to keep an eye out for her posts!

Yup can't spend all my time on here

Thanks for organising the linked dinning

As for the FE - I am happy for 15-20 staterooms per group, I think 25 might be pushing it for what I have planned but I will of course be happy with the general consensus. Thanks again for settling this early so we can make a start

.


I'm in agreement with you Sara, 15-20 cabins sounds good to me too.

 

[binkytell]

My daughter Hailey is 11 right now and will turn 12 the day before we cruise. She is very interested in being pen pals with kids around her age. PM if your DD is interested. Hailey's has an email address and she uses it for emails as well as iMessage on her iTouch. She is a big One Direction Fan!!

We are moving to Late dining but we still want to be linked. I put in the request to my TA just haven't heard back yet. Thanks Sarah for taking care of all of this.

Sent you a PM kaseyc

Will update you to late dining, the more the merrier

You ROCK, Sarah!!!

With my name, please add MIL as well. We are making her final payment today - and already purchased airfare - so she is definitely onboard. Couldn't coerce FIL to come too, but she will definitely love the cruise.

I try my best

Will add DMil too

 

[Kirbo]

I think we might try to do linked dining! DH was against it, but now seems more open to the idea. I'll work on him more and then let you know. I know that it might be too late to really be part of your group, but maybe we'll at least be seated near you all.

 

[gramfrog]

Have fun!! This will be the first 8-night itinerary, right? Key West, PC and CC? I booked some friends on that itinerary for late April, so have been keeping an eye out for any pointers to tell them.

Hopefully no fog for you guys - this past weekend was craziness!

Thanks, Mandy! It IS the first on the new itinerary. Looking forward to Key West, even though we only get to be there 1/2 day. Bucket list. Our grandson's 10th birthday is actually on the same day as the WDW visit (yay!), so that makes it more magical. We are going as "placeholders" for the second room, since kids are free these trips from Galveston and our DD has five kids (surprise twins after their three-- OMG)
The FB page for this week's sailing is all a-dither over the fog thing. What a problem for last week's sailing!

 

[binkytell]

I think we might try to do linked dining! DH was against it, but now seems more open to the idea. I'll work on him more and then let you know. I know that it might be too late to really be part of your group, but maybe we'll at least be seated near you all.

When we cruised in 2011, dawns husband didn't want to link either but she told him they would probably get linked with others anyway, so she went ahead and did it and we all got along fabulously.

On the wbta we had around I'm guessing about 50 of us linked, all within tables of each other. So you will be part of a group

 

[binkytell]

We are leaving on the Magic this week (9 nights) . Our FE is organized to be 9 in a group so that each day one family is assigned to deliver. Maybe if this 14 night voyage has 14 families in each FE group? Just sayin'

Have a fab trip, I'm so jealous.

 

[MandyGirl]

I was able to call Enterprise and get the same rate as above.

Unfortunately, they could not confirm a car seat for me, and even if they could, the price with taxes, etc was right about $85.

I don't want to drag a car seat along with me, for just the first 45 miles of the trip, so I guess I keep (and hope it runs from Hobby), my DCL transfers.

Thanks for the help though - at least others can benefit from this same rate information!

Chuck

No problem! With five of us now (since Mother In Law joined) we went the car rental route. For car seats, we are planning to keep an eye on our local online garage sale or CraigsList to purchase one good enough to make that leg of the journey. We have purchased brand new booster seats for under $20 on sale at Target such as this, and thought of taking our old backup car seat with us to just donate/discard in Galveston. Not the Britax of course, but something that gets us from Point A to Point B since that is the only leg of our journey we need a car seat. All of our European excursions are providing a car seat or are on buses not requiring use of one.

You will also read staying around Hobby is not the best of areas. I've done it when presenting at a conference in Houston, but not an area where you can walk anywhere, especially at night. Houston Hobby Marriott Airport South is what Disney was using at one point for pre-cruise hotel according to an email I had received in 2012 when doing the research. Not sure if they are even doing that currently.

 

[MandyGirl]

Thanks, Mandy! It IS the first on the new itinerary. Looking forward to Key West, even though we only get to be there 1/2 day. Bucket list. Our grandson's 10th birthday is actually on the same day as the WDW visit (yay!), so that makes it more magical. We are going as "placeholders" for the second room, since kids are free these trips from Galveston and our DD has five kids (surprise twins after their three-- OMG)
The FB page for this week's sailing is all a-dither over the fog thing. What a problem for last week's sailing!

LOL - there are lots of placeholders happening. A great way to coerce the grandparents along! The kids sail free makes it a great deal. Envious you will be on Castaway Cay next week - WooHoo!!!!

 

[Kirbo]

When we cruised in 2011, dawns husband didn't want to link either but she told him they would probably get linked with others anyway, so she went ahead and did it and we all got along fabulously.

On the wbta we had around I'm guessing about 50 of us linked, all within tables of each other. So you will be part of a group

I told DH the same thing! He's agreed to it.

FYI, we're not Disney people . We've never been to WDW and havne't taken our kids to DLR. But we ARE DCL people. This is our third cruise, we've done two MR cruises and they were the best vacations ever.

Our girls are not super into the clubs. They spent almost all their time with us on both cruises, but we're hoping they'll enjoy the space more this time. They also loved the club more than the lab (they aren't very mature, they are on the young side for their age). We're also hopeful that there will be a sleepover in the club/lab that they can go to. They haven't had one IRL yet, so this would be a trail run.

Anyway, I'll send you a PM. Thank you so much for organizing this.

Gosh, I just realized that you and MandyGirl are really taking great care of all of us! Thank you to both of you for all your hard work. This is going to be such a fun cruise!

 

[kaseyC]

Just wondering how many of us are staying at the IAH Marriott the night before the cruise?

Taking DCL transportation?

 

[kaseyC]

I told DH the same thing! He's agreed to it.

FYI, we're not Disney people . We've never been to WDW and havne't taken our kids to DLR. But we ARE DCL people. This is our third cruise, we've done two MR cruises and they were the best vacations ever.

Our girls are not super into the clubs. They spent almost all their time with us on both cruises, but we're hoping they'll enjoy the space more this time. They also loved the club more than the lab (they aren't very mature, they are on the young side for their age). We're also hopeful that there will be a sleepover in the club/lab that they can go to. They haven't had one IRL yet, so this would be a trail run.

Anyway, I'll send you a PM. Thank you so much for organizing this.

Gosh, I just realized that you and MandyGirl are really taking great care of all of us! Thank you to both of you for all your hard work. This is going to be such a fun cruise!

They may like the the club/lab more this trip because there are not nearly as many kids as the regular 7 night sailings. The kids get to really know the youth staff and enjoy the spaces without be overwhelmed.

 

[Kirbo]

Just wondering how many of us are staying at the IAH Marriott the night before the cruise?

Taking DCL transportation?

We are! We're doing Disney Air, so I have no idea of our flights, but my TA said that they'd be putting us up in the Marriott. Oops, I just realized that I don't know what airport we're flying into. So maybe we aren't

 

[MandyGirl]

When we cruised in 2011, dawns husband didn't want to link either but she told him they would probably get linked with others anyway, so she went ahead and did it and we all got along fabulously.

On the wbta we had around I'm guessing about 50 of us linked, all within tables of each other. So you will be part of a group

Have to elaborate... It was awesome. Meeting folks that by the end of the cruise you know will become lifelong friends, you plan future cruises with, meet up at Disney with... It was an awesome group.

Just link first, ask hubby forgiveness later No, seriously, we all got along great, spent time together throughout the cruise outside of dinner. Never met prior to the cruise. They got used to my Texan drawl and I started getting acclimated to some Scottish and Canadian accents

 

[Kirbo]

They may like the the club/lab more this trip because there are not nearly as many kids as the regular 7 night sailings. The kids get to really know the youth staff and enjoy the spaces without be overwhelmed.

We're very hopeful. But I must say, we had such a great time our last two cruises that we know it'll be fine if we're all together again this time. (Thankfully, I enjoy my kids ). Last cruise we told them that they had to go into programming for our brunch and dinner dates. Otherwise it was up to them. I'd love if they had more fun there this time, but if they don't it'll be ok too.

 

[Kirbo]

Have to elaborate... It was awesome. Meeting folks that by the end of the cruise you know will become lifelong friends, you plan future cruises with, meet up at Disney with... It was an awesome group.

Just link first, ask hubby forgiveness later No, seriously, we all got along great, spent time together throughout the cruise outside of dinner. Never met prior to the cruise. They got used to my Texan drawl and I started getting acclimated to some Scottish and Canadian accents

I'm getting excited!