May 2, 2009~~~Magical MAYniacs!~~~ 7 day Western....Updated, April 3,2009!!

[laura001]

Welcome Magical MAYniacs! We sail on the Magic, May 2, 2009 for 7 nights!

UPDATES FROM THE THREAD!!


Voting Results: A special "Thank-you" to Toribelle for keeping track of the results!

We are the Magical MAYniacs!

Cruise meet on first day- Promenade Lounge 2:30 pm. (info to follow)

Fish Extenders- Many interested so it is a go! (list and info to follow)
Pink Elephants and Ashlotte will be organizing us!

Fish Extender Info:

Here is a link on the Fish Extender info
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1219607

And what you do is each member that decides to participate in the Exchange Buys or makes one of these and has them hung by their stateroom door. Then Everyone gets or makes gifts or brings something special for each person participating in the exchange. You dont have to give much, it isnt to break the bank so to speak. But its something fun and its neat coming back to your room and having a gift or two waiting for you

On the other meet that I am on, They made a list of who all is participating and then their stateroom Numbers and AGE and/or occassion of who all is traveling (in case you want to do something related for gifts) and Each person gets a gift for everyone (whatever you want).

You can assign people to give their gifts on certain days if you want everyone to get a gift each day or if you like or it can be a free for all (meaning you can give them out whenever you want to during the cruise). But each person is supposed to get a gift Also you can either just get gifts for certain ones or you can get gifts for everyone thats participating (depends on what the rules are going to be) for the cruise meet that I am on for October, You must bring something for everyone on the list...about 16 people so far participating on that one. But not every cruiser participates or has to, just whomever would like to



UPDATED LIST OF CRUISERS (Zerog is keeping this list for us)



Dis ID – Location – Names & Ages – Stateroom - Other

Laura001 – Niagara Ontario – Scott50, Laura46 - Cabin #6640 - Celebrating 25th Anniversary; First DCL Cruise
Ashlotte – Pacific NW – DH, DW, DS5.5, DD3.5 - Cabin #7012 - Celebrating 10th Anniversary; First DCL Cruise
Zero G – Florida – Randy49, Steph35, DS9, DD6 - Cabin #2608 - Celebrating 10th Anniversary
- - MIL & FIL - Arkansas - Cabin #2611 - First cruise ever
Colleenlg - San Diego - Phil41, Colleen35, Karissa4, Leo1
- - Colleen's friends - Mat41, April39, Isabella2
- - More friends - Kathy34, Kevin54, Katie4 & Kyle1
DisneyDreamer8 - Oregon - DH33, DW32, DS(14 Months) - Cabin #2126 - Celebrating 10th Anniversary
- - Sister's family: DSis36, DH37, DD14, DS11, DD1, and my mother - Cabins #2124 & 2122
- - In-Laws
Linds79 - Portland, OR - DW, DH, DS10, DD3, Dbaby1.5 + lots o' family - Getting Married!
Mjlewis23 - Michigan - Michelle32, Dave34, Amanda9 - First Cruise
Pirate at Heart - Smuggler's Cove - Serena, Coutney12, Christina10 - Cabin #6598
Northwenald - Massachusetts - Janine43 and Kevin43, Cabin #7058, Celebrating 20th Anniversary
Pink Elephants - D(mom), DD13, and DBF(spencer4hire)- Cabin #8084, Celebrating DD's Bat Mitzvah
Myth-USA & Bahama Mama - Orange Park, FL - Jeff, Jennifer - Cabin #7625 - 10th Anniversary & Jennifer's Birthday
MickeyD - Washington State – Lisa, Doug – Celebrating Anniversary
LauraFoster – Hertfordshire, England – me24, DH23, My Mum, My Dad, and My grandparents
DaveH and CrazyBoutDisney - Sterling, VA - Dave54 and DW Beth57 - Cabin #2100 - Second DCL Cruise
4everluvDisney - Doug63 and Audrey51 - First DCL Cruise
hdpals - Hershey, PA - Brian33, Meg28 - Cabin #6048 - 5th Disney Cruise - Celebrating a birthday
- - MIL and FIL - Cabin # somewhere deck 6 inside - 2nd DCL Cruise
- - BIL and girlfriend Cabin # deck 2 - 2nd DCL cruise for BIL, 1st for girlfriend
golfermike35 - Greensboro, NC Mike40, Kate (not telling) and Matthew DS (13 months) - 1st Disney Cruise
BlueNoPink - DW(34), DH (36), DM (62), DF(62), DD4-1/2, DD3 - First DCL Cruise
AdventureLover67 - Don(46), Amy(41), and Alexandra(18) Cabin #5010
cdfl30 - Jax, FL - Candis, Todd, cabin # 2512 - 1st 7-nite cruise
AKcruiser - NC - Brenda48, Mark48, Nicholas7, Mara6 - 1st 7-nite DCL Cruise
Fluffycat - Mahwah, NJ - Darlene41, Mark46, Kyle9, Colton5 - Cabin #6571 - Celebrating 20th Anniversary - 1st DCL Cruise
My4bratz - Ohio - DW, DH, DD10, DS9, 4 yo, 3 yo - Celebrating 2 birthdays and a wedding anniversary
Kimberlyp02 - Kim29, DH34, DD7, DS3, my mil - Celebrating 2 birthdays - 1st Cruise Ever
Winstanik - Huntingdon, Quebec - Winston34 , Anik38, Trista5.5 - Cabin #2510 - Just got married!
Jfahome - DW, DH, DD4, MIL - Cabins 2602 & 2604
__________________



Helpful Links (special thanks to Zerog for most of them)

Packing list: http://homepage.mac.com/momme30/Excel/FileSharing19.html

2008 Navigator: http://www.wdwinfo.com/Photos/DCL-Navigators/11-01-08-dm/index.htm

How to make your Fish Extender: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=22628211#post22628211&highlight=fish+extenders+how+to+make

Cruise Magnets for your stateroom door: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1523226&page=250


Cruise Band info: http://www.reminderband.com/products/index.php (laura001 is taking care of the bands) Debossed neon green with black (or white) letters? Please pm laura001 if you want to order. Total cost per bracelet is $2.00. Sorry, as of March 29, 2009 there are no bracelets left from our order, if you would like to order your own, message laura001 and she will give you the particulars for what we ordered.

 

[laura001]

I have been watching to see if someone was going to start a thread for this particular cruise, but alas.........notta!!!!!

Soooo.........guess it is up to me/us, first time cruisers! DH and I will be celebrating our 25th Anniversary, truth be told though, I had to think of some way of talking him into a Disney Cruise. What better than a celebration!!!!

We are a little nervous, being first timers and all, but will be glued to these boards for the next 499 days!!!!

Hopefully someone from here will be joining us on the cruise, can't wait to hear!!!!

 

[Ashlotte]

Hi there! We will be on the May 2nd cruise also. It is our first Disney cruise and we are WAY excited! (I mean, why else would I be obsessively reading the DISboards over a year in advance?). We are going to celebrate our ten year anniversary (although our anniversary is in September- we didn't want to cruise then because I didn't want to take our son out of school the second week of first grade). Our honeymoon was a cruise (Carnival) and a trip to Disneyland, so I have been mentally planning that our ten year would be a Disney cruise with kids since then. Hope to see more people on here!

 

[laura001]

Hey Ashlotte! I almost fell out of my chair to see that someone had finally replied to this thread! WOOHOO!!!!! I know what you mean about the obsessing, here I sit too reading and reading, making mental notes....wondering how far I can go without my DH freaking out over it all!

I see that you are bringing along your two children, DH and I are going to be traveling alone. DH is very worried that there are not going to be other people on the ship without kids.....I have told him that from what I have read and asked others on the boards is that there are going to be other adults only on the ship too. If it is too bad, we may have to rent a couple of kids on the ship for an afternoon or two Our kids are older and cannot get the time off of school and work, so we will miss having them there with us.

Have you starting planning excursions etc?

I am with ya..............hopefully some more people join in!!!

 

[Ashlotte]

I think after 25 years of marriage you have earned a little alone time. How old are your kids? Our kids will be too little to leave (plus they have no grandparents), so I figured the cruise is a happy medium- we can ditch them in the kids club and have some alone time. Whoo hoo!
I see so many people on here that are DCL addicts and it makes me a little nervous that I will become addicted too. I can't imagine cruising during peak season and paying those prices- youch! But when the kids are older, you either need to cruise at spring break or find someone to watch them, right?
I haven't started planning the excursions yet, but have read a few threads. Really, being an obsessive planner, this is a dream come true. Between the cruise and the week at WDW, I have four theme parks and four cruise destinations (five if you include Cape Canaveral) to plan for. I am in "research" heaven!
I did a fair amount of research before picking a room, though. Hopefully I did okay and don't get seasick.

 

[laura001]

Yeah........25 years! I guess when you look back it seems like a lifetime, but in reality it goes by very quickly! Our kids are 23, 20, and 16. We asked the youngest just this past weekend if she wanted to come on the cruise with us but she doesn't want to. Guess us old folks are too much for her...lol!!!! You are right about the cruise being the happy medium, I don't know why I hadn't thought of that when our kids were young. Come to think of it, a lot of our vacations included Grandparents, guess that was like having the "kids club"

Your kids are probably very excited about their trip, do they know what to expect?

I am worried too that I (probably not we) will become addicted too, just one more thing to add onto my list. DH isn't a big Disney fan, he does it for me, although he always has a good time. I think he thinks that if he really shows a lot of interest that it will make me worse I have heard from everyone that once you cruise with Disney you will have to go back..........oh well, such is life

We have no excursions picked yet either, I am much more adventurous than DH so I have been trying to think of something he would like, even more so than me. The Tulum ruins and perhaps the Turtle Farm will be on our list. As for CC, I may do the parasailing and let DH just lay on the beach! I change my mind though everytime that I read what someone else has done. When the crunch time comes I will have to pick.

What week are you going to WDW? We are heading to WDW the week after the cruise, hopefully staying at The Boardwalk . We plan on being at Port Canaveral on Thursday before the cruise and doing the Kennedy Space Center on Friday then head to the cruise on Sat. We will stay at the Radisson, we have stayed there before and it is GREAT! What about you?

As for the room..........we are in cabin #2578, midship, cat 9. Both DH and I have a real problem with motion sickness so we will be taking Bonine the whole week before and hopefully with the research that I did for our cabin we will be ok. Did you book a specific cabin also? It is hard hoping that you have made all the right choices.

 

[Ashlotte]

We are doing a week at WDW, but don't know if it will before or after the cruise and where we'll be staying yet. We have a timeshare that we are trying to exchange for a DVC property, so we'll see if we are successful. Otherwise we'll just stay at one of the other gazillion timeshares there, although I really want to stay at Disney. I haven't decided yet if it is better to do the cruise first or second. If we do WDW first, we'll be ready to relax on the cruise, but I worry the kids might be burnt out on Disney and being on vacation by then. So maybe cruise first? It really all depends on when/if we get a room.
We are in room 7012, which is a category 8. I am a little worried that it is too far forward, but the reviews on the room seemed okay. We actually were originally booked for on the Wonder for a 4-night cruise the same week in a category 6 verandah room. When dh saw that it was just $1,000 more for a lesser category room with three more nights on the 7 night, he wanted to switch. He is a huge cheapskate, so this was pretty out of character.
I think we are going to try to squeeze the Space Center in also. Ds is a big space fan (thanks to Buzz Lightyear) and might think it is interesting. Hopefully they have some things are engaging for smaller kids.
As for getting the kids prepared, we have been watching youtube videos and looking at people's pictures on the disboards. I am not sure what else to do to prep them. They have been lucky enough to go to Disneyland twice already, so they are pretty familiar with all the characters and the DL version of the WDW rides.
The Tulum ruins sound gorgeous. I got to go to Chichen Itza (sp?) in Cancun when I was in college and it was really neat. I don't think my kids would be interested in the ruins yet, so I may have to save that for a future cruise (already an excuse for a future cruise!). Have you seen "Apocolypto?" It beautiful (though violent) and makes the Mayan culture feel very real.

 

[itutorfortravel]

Our family will be joining you! Just switched our cruise from the Jan Eastern to this one...looking forward to warmer weather, plus we love the intinerary. We flew to Grand Cayman last summer for a week and had a blast - looking forward to going back, if even just for a day. The cruise seems so far away but I'm sure the time will fly!

 

[Ashlotte]

Hi and welcome! Spending a week on Grand Caymen probably allowed you to see most of the big sites. With only one day there on the cruise, what will you choose to do?

 

[laura001]

Our family will be joining you! Just switched our cruise from the Jan Eastern to this one...looking forward to warmer weather, plus we love the intinerary. We flew to Grand Cayman last summer for a week and had a blast - looking forward to going back, if even just for a day. The cruise seems so far away but I'm sure the time will fly!

Hi and welcome!!! Sounds like you really enjoyed Grand Cayman, I am with Ashlotte, what would you suggest as an excursion for the day? Also, would the excursion be good for all ages etc.?

Is the reason you switched because of the weather? I believe that the weather should be great for us and the water calm (I hope, I hope....as I don't want to be sea sick)

Have you seen "Apocolypto?" It beautiful (though violent) and makes the Mayan culture feel very real.

I haven't seen it, at least I don't think I have, I will ask DH if I have seen it He always remembers, I am the type of person that can come home with a movie we watched last month.

I haven't decided yet if it is better to do the cruise first or second

I know a lot of people do WDW first.....but my thoughts are that if in fact the cruise is as good as everyone says....well......getting off of that boat with only a plane ride home will totally suck. So........at least we still have WDW to look forward to. As for the disney touches ect., the cruise should have enough that we are going to feel like we are at Disney for a whole 2 weeks!

I think we are going to try to squeeze the Space Center in also. Ds is a big space fan (thanks to Buzz Lightyear) and might think it is interesting. Hopefully they have some things are engaging for smaller kids.

We took our kids years ago and they enjoyed it, that was when BUZZ was just out. From what I hear there is a lot more to see and do as to when we were there last, so we too are looking forward to it!

 

[itutorfortravel]

Hello! Well, my daughter had just turned 5 when we went to Grand Cayman last summer and she really loved both the turtle farm at Boatswains Beach and the Stingray City trip with Red Sail Sports that left out of Rum Point. We also got to do some other off the beaten path type stuff because we were there for a week and had a car. We found a really cool beach where starfish were plentiful. You'd wade out into the water about waist deep and could reach down and pick up starfish bigger than your hand! It was so cool! I'm not sure what we will do this time. Probably a snorkel trip because she really liked snorkeling too. Personally, I'd stay away from 7 Mile Beach and head over to the North Shore where Rum Point is. My husband and I have actually been to Grand Cayman a few times. Once on a cruise, then we flew there for our 5th wedding anniversary in 2001 and stayed at the Westin Causarina on 7 Mile Beach. Then, last year we stayed at a resort at Collier's Bay on the East End. I just liked the quiet and more island feeling at the East End and on the North Shore. We drove through the 7 Mile Beach area last year on our way to Boatswains Beach and it has really gotten developed since our visit 5 years before. So, that's just my preference but if you've never been to 7 Mile Beach you might want to go. There is certainly a lot more to do. Have either of you been on a DCL cruise? We were a little hesitant about cruising, like I said my husband and I have cruised before, both times with RCCL. Once for our honeymoon and then another time about a year and a half later. We just prefer to fly or drive and stay somewhere for an extended period of time, but our daughter really wants to experience a cruise so we thought if we're going to go, it might as well be Disney since we do love to go to WDW. We're hoping for a really fun time!

 

[laura001]

DH and I have never cruised before, both of us a little hesitant, very worried about being sick as both of us are very sensitive to motion. BUT, what the heck, we are doing it now, so hopefully it will be ok.

Funny you mention the Turtle farm as we were thinking of doing that. Can you tell us something about it and whether it takes all day or should we add something to it, like a beach or ???? Also, would you recommend hiring it from Disney or on our own??

 

[itutorfortravel]

Our experience at the turtle farm was probably different than most. While we were in GCM, the turtle farm was hosting Sir Turtle Sea School which is an educational tour given by someone at Boatswain's Beach. The day we went it was Trina Christian and she was great! We went around to the turtle tanks and she told us about the turtles, we got to hold one, etc. Then we met Chris Christian (who coincidentally is Trina's husband), who is a local Caymanian and a local artist. He gave us some information about Caymanian history and then we actually got to paint a landscape. The day we went was the first day of sea school and we were the only people, so it was a private tour - very, very cool. We did not take in the other sights at Boatswain's Beach that day so I can't tell you anything about that. I'm sure it is fun though because it's a big attraction for the tourists. Maybe if we go this time we will try some of the other things that it has to offer. I was going to try to send the link to Boatswain's Beach but I don't have enough posts yet. Anyhow, see if you can decipher what I am saying: It's w w w . boatswainsbeach . ky

Speaking of local art, if you have time to get to Pure Art, it's an awesome local art gallery not too far from town. We have gotten some beautiful souvenirs there during our past two trips down.

 

[zerog]

Sooooo sad, yet sooooo happy!! ​

Hello. So sad because we just got home from the 7-nite Eastern cruise.
So happy, because we booked the May 2, 2009 Western cruise while on-board.

There are 4 in our family: DH49, DW35, DS9, and DD6 (all ages at the time of the 2009 cruise). We live a whopping 10 minutes from the port.

Perhaps I can offer some advice, while things are still fresh in my head. However, I'd recommend that you read the main boards so you can get a variety of opinions and suggestions.

Our cruise was awesome. Nobody wanted to get off the ship. We had great weather and relatively calm seas - although a few families got queasy from the motion.

More to come later. Right now, its time to unpack, unwind, and catch up. Looking forward to spending the next 12 months with everyone counting down to our new vacation!

 

[zerog]

Hi, back again. I need to take a break. I've been unpacking all morning and DW has been removing red-eye from our photo's.

Let me begin by saying something about seasickness. I am very prone to motion sickness, yet this was my 4th cruise and I have yet to get seasick (knock-on-wood). I have gotten motion sick on deep sea fishing boats, 1-day gambling cruises, a small airplane, long drives, and certain carnival rides. On the 4 cruises, I wore a patch behind my ear (prescribed by a doctor) and followed advice from several websites regarding seasickness. For example, I drank a lot of water prior to sailing, took ginger tablets, and avoided heavy/greasy food for breakfast on sail day. Something worked or perhaps a combination of things.

Worse come to worse, we travel to Key West on Sunday, so those who begin to feel queasy will immediately have a land day to recover. On the Eastern cruise, we were out to sea for 2 days straight.

ADVICE OF THE DAY: Get one of those clear plastic over-the-door shoe holders at Walmart or wherever for $4 to $7. There is little to no countertop space in the stateroom. These things are great for putting everything under the sun in - KTTW cards, pagers, receipts, glasses, you name it ...

 

[zerog]

As for the room..we are in cabin #2578, midship, cat 9.

We are in room 2608, Cat 9. That's about 15 rooms away on Deck 2 toward the aft on the same side (starboard).

 

[colleenlg]

hi there-

we'll be sailing with you! it will be me(35), dh(41), dd(4), & ds(1). those are ages at time of cruise - right now ds is sleeping in my arms - 9 wks old. we did the disney med cruise this summer when dd was 2&1/2. we had so much fun & disney is the only cruise line to offer childcare to kids under 3 at useful hours (carnival offers care starting at 10 pm or something - no thx!). i hope the caribbean cruise can live up to our expectations b/c the med cruise was absolutely fabulous!

colleen

 

[laura001]

Our experience at the turtle farm was probably different than most. While we were in GCM, the turtle farm was hosting Sir Turtle Sea School which is an educational tour given by someone at Boatswain's Beach. The day we went it was Trina Christian and she was great! We went around to the turtle tanks and she told us about the turtles, we got to hold one, etc. Then we met Chris Christian (who coincidentally is Trina's husband), who is a local Caymanian and a local artist. He gave us some information about Caymanian history and then we actually got to paint a landscape. The day we went was the first day of sea school and we were the only people, so it was a private tour - very, very cool. We did not take in the other sights at Boatswain's Beach that day so I can't tell you anything about that. I'm sure it is fun though because it's a big attraction for the tourists. Maybe if we go this time we will try some of the other things that it has to offer. I was going to try to send the link to Boatswain's Beach but I don't have enough posts yet. Anyhow, see if you can decipher what I am saying: It's w w w . boatswainsbeach . ky

Speaking of local art, if you have time to get to Pure Art, it's an awesome local art gallery not too far from town. We have gotten some beautiful souvenirs there during our past two trips down.

Thanks, I have been so busy lately I haven't had a chance to look the beach up, but will do it this week (or perhaps later tonight) The art gallery sounds fantastic and right up our alley too!

There are 4 in our family: DH49, DW35, DS9, and DD6 (all ages at the time of the 2009 cruise). We live a whopping 10 minutes from the port.

Perhaps I can offer some advice, while things are still fresh in my head. However, I'd recommend that you read the main boards so you can get a variety of opinions and suggestions.

Our cruise was awesome. Nobody wanted to get off the ship. We had great weather and relatively calm seas - although a few families got queasy from the motion.

Welcome!!!! It is great to see that there are now a few of us. WOW!!! Just finishing one cruise and onto your next, lucky!! Glad to hear that you really enjoyed your cruise. I am sure that all of us would love to hear any pointers that you can give us, and yes the main board is full of great suggestions

Let me begin by saying something about seasickness. I am very prone to motion sickness, yet this was my 4th cruise and I have yet to get seasick (knock-on-wood). I have gotten motion sick on deep sea fishing boats, 1-day gambling cruises, a small airplane, long drives, and certain carnival rides. On the 4 cruises, I wore a patch behind my ear (prescribed by a doctor) and followed advice from several websites regarding seasickness. For example, I drank a lot of water prior to sailing, took ginger tablets, and avoided heavy/greasy food for breakfast on sail day. Something worked or perhaps a combination of things.

Oh my gosh, I guess you can see from earlier posts that we are worried about the motion. I/we plan on taking Bonine a few days prior to sailing and will continue through the trip. I think we will also bring along some ginger tablets, hopefully that helps too!

ADVICE OF THE DAY: Get one of those clear plastic over-the-door shoe holders at Walmart or wherever for $4 to $7. There is little to no countertop space in the stateroom. These things are great for putting everything under the sun in - KTTW cards, pagers, receipts, glasses, you name it ...

I have read about those, was thinking that because there are only two of us we wouldn't need one, but as you say, it keeps everything together so I am sure it can't hurt having one. The next time I am in Walmart I will have a look and see. Were they in with the luggage or in the toiletries/cosmetics area??

 

[laura001]

We are in room 2608, Cat 9. That's about 15 rooms away on Deck 2 toward the aft on the same side (starboard).

That is close!!!!! Hmmm....well, not sure about the "boat terms" but will take your word for it

 

[laura001]

hi there-

we'll be sailing with you! it will be me(35), dh(41), dd(4), & ds(1). those are ages at time of cruise - right now ds is sleeping in my arms - 9 wks old. we did the disney med cruise this summer when dd was 2&1/2. we had so much fun & disney is the only cruise line to offer childcare to kids under 3 at useful hours (carnival offers care starting at 10 pm or something - no thx!). i hope the caribbean cruise can live up to our expectations b/c the med cruise was absolutely fabulous!

colleen

Welcome Colleenlg!!!! Awwww.....a 9 week old, I LOVE LITTLE babies!!

Does the cruiseline offer childcare for little, little one's too? That would be great I bet.

I hope that the cruise lives up to our expectations too, although we really don't know exactly what to expect so it shouldn't be too hard.

Are you heading down just for the cruise or are you adding something else to your trip?