May 25, 2012 - Magical 8-night cruise - NYC to the Bahamas!

[padalyn]

wow, I didn't realize we were past the 120 day mark. Just logged in an got Palo dinner, brunch and tea. thank you for the reminder!!!

 

[ge0rgette2]

If your husband isn't the best swimmer, I'd recommend the Stingray encounter on Castaway Cay. I did that in 2006 and it was fun. I was kind of afraid to do any of the stingray excursions on the other islands because they're out in the open ocean, and I knew that Disney trims the stingers/barbs on the stingrays on their island, so it's safe to pet them. (The barbs grow back, just like our fingernails do, so it doesn't hurt the stingray to have them trimmed very short)

He's a good swimmer, just doesn't snorkel well, if that makes sense...
He doesn't get nervous over much --- heights, car racing, anything like that, but snorkeling ain't his thing!

wow, I didn't realize we were past the 120 day mark. Just logged in an got Palo dinner, brunch and tea. thank you for the reminder!!!

Soooo jealous!!!

I can't book yet!

I still have lots of $$ to pay! LOL

Was it difficult to get times for the transportation to WDW?

I'm hoping to have my tax return back by March 11th.. We've already dropped it off at the accountant, one can pray all goes well ... At least if I can pay 1/2 of what I owe or have it towards excursions.

 

[SeaSpray]

wow, I didn't realize we were past the 120 day mark. Just logged in an got Palo dinner, brunch and tea. thank you for the reminder!!!

Yay! Which night did you choose to do Palo dinner?? I'm trying to figure out ahead of time which night to try and get.

He's a good swimmer, just doesn't snorkel well, if that makes sense...
He doesn't get nervous over much --- heights, car racing, anything like that, but snorkeling ain't his thing!

Soooo jealous!!!

I can't book yet!

I still have lots of $$ to pay! LOL

Was it difficult to get times for the transportation to WDW?

I'm hoping to have my tax return back by March 11th.. We've already dropped it off at the accountant, one can pray all goes well ... At least if I can pay 1/2 of what I owe or have it towards excursions.

That makes sense; a lot of people don't like the feeling that they can't breathe properly with the snorkel in their mouths. You don't have to snorkel at all to see and pet the stingrays at Castaway Cay.

I hope that your accountant processes your tax return quickly!!!




In other news.... I just had our travel agent change us from early dining to late dining. I honestly can't remember why I thought that early dining would be preferable for us, but at this point we discussed it and agreed that late dining would be better. Also, maybe this will free up early dining for a family with children, since I checked online and someone now booking would not be able to choose early dining.

So...if any of you sailing with us need or want early dining, our party of 4 just switched to late dining!

 

[TeresaG]

I'm debating signing up for the FE but I've never done it before so I'm not sure what it entails? lol. But I imagine the kids might like it.

We haven't paid in full yet either. The thing that worries me the most is not getting an early bus to MK. And brunch at Palo. So yea, I'm a little worried I guess.

 

[padalyn]

He's a good swimmer, just doesn't snorkel well, if that makes sense...
He doesn't get nervous over much --- heights, car racing, anything like that, but snorkeling ain't his thing!




Soooo jealous!!!

I can't book yet!

I still have lots of $$ to pay! LOL

Was it difficult to get times for the transportation to WDW?

I'm hoping to have my tax return back by March 11th.. We've already dropped it off at the accountant, one can pray all goes well ... At least if I can pay 1/2 of what I owe or have it towards excursions.

it looks pretty easy - there are three parks listed with price zero dollars. Due to computer limitations at work and loss of internet at home I can't actually book it until tomorrow when I can use my laptop at my full time job tomorrow. I will let you know the times when I am able to.

Got the times:

630
715
815
915
1245

 

[ge0rgette2]

Oh well. Bad news!! Time to buckle down. Didnt do as well on taxes

 

[SeaSpray]

it looks pretty easy - there are three parks listed with price zero dollars. Due to computer limitations at work and loss of internet at home I can't actually book it until tomorrow when I can use my laptop at my full time job tomorrow. I will let you know the times when I am able to.

I'm interested to know the times they're offering the bus, too. Thanks

Oh well. Bad news!! Time to buckle down. Didnt do as well on taxes

Oh Georgette, that stinks!!

We have an appointment with our accountant for this Saturday, so I'm wondering what kind of shape we'll be in this year. A few things have changed since last year, so we're not sure how it will effect the refund that we usually get.

One year we ended up owing... that was no fun.

 

[SeaSpray]

Got the times:

630
715
815
915
1245

Thanks!!

 

[ge0rgette2]

Yup. Owing stinks. We owe his year eeeek

I wonder how many people will take that early bus?

 

[padalyn]

Yup. Owing stinks. We owe his year eeeek

I wonder how many people will take that early bus?

well - I am not sure if the Extra Magic Hours for resort guests will apply to us (we do have a room key lol) but all the parks open to the general public at 9am that day. Studios has Extra Magic hours at 8am that day...my hunny was able to log in and make our reservations - we are on the 815 bus, and doing the Epcot Dessert Fireworks thing. The link is really funny - it takes one to a NYC excursion!

 

[FunWithTheKids]

I wonder how many people will take that early bus?

We signed up for the 7:15 bus. We have breakfast reservations at Cinderella's castle at 10:00 am and I wanted to make sure we had plenty of time to get there without added stress (and I was going by Disney's estimate of the trip being 1 1/2 hours).

 

[ge0rgette2]

That sounds like a plan..



I loved whispering canyon cafe for breakfast. Wish we could get there again.

We are going to WDW to see Fantasyland, if it's done.

Is Cinderellas the only place for breakfast. I figured we would see a lot of characters on board that we don't need to see them for breakfast. Maybe I'm wrong

 

[FunWithTheKids]

That sounds like a plan..



I loved whispering canyon cafe for breakfast. Wish we could get there again.

We are going to WDW to see Fantasyland, if it's done.

Is Cinderellas the only place for breakfast. I figured we would see a lot of characters on board that we don't need to see them for breakfast. Maybe I'm wrong

There are definitely other places for breakfast. In the past we have done breakfast at The Crystal Palace in the Magic Kingdom, but it is a character breakfast too (Winnie the Pooh, I think). There is a bakery on Main Street if you want a quick breakfast.

The Wilderness Lodge is a quick (10 min) boat ride from the Magic Kingdom, so you probably could go to the Whispering Canyon restaurant if you want to.

 

[ge0rgette2]

There are definitely other places for breakfast. In the past we have done breakfast at The Crystal Palace in the Magic Kingdom, but it is a character breakfast too (Winnie the Pooh, I think). There is a bakery on Main Street if you want a quick breakfast.

The Wilderness Lodge is a quick (10 min) boat ride from the Magic Kingdom, so you probably could go to the Whispering Canyon restaurant if you want to.

Yup just booked Whispering Canyon breakfast for us!! I enjoyed that place!

We will just take the boat from WDW and then head back after breakfast.
We plan on being there all day anyways ..

Do we have to book transportation back to the ship as well as leaving?

I made the ressie's for 9:30, hopefully we can get an early bus!

 

[SeaSpray]

We signed up for the 7:15 bus. We have breakfast reservations at Cinderella's castle at 10:00 am and I wanted to make sure we had plenty of time to get there without added stress (and I was going by Disney's estimate of the trip being 1 1/2 hours).

Yup just booked Whispering Canyon breakfast for us!! I enjoyed that place!

We will just take the boat from WDW and then head back after breakfast.
We plan on being there all day anyways ..

Do we have to book transportation back to the ship as well as leaving?

I made the ressie's for 9:30, hopefully we can get an early bus!

All of this talk of breakfast is really tempting me to book my favorite Disney World breakfast spot: The Kona Cafe at the Polynesia!! I love their Pineapple-Macadamia Nut Pancakes. HEAVEN ON A PLATE!!!

 

[ge0rgette2]

Just checkin' in ... wasting some time before my daughter and I leave to go to the school for Night of the Stars.. The kids do skits .. it's fun!

Tomorrow is girl scout cookie deliver, ekkk! nevermind the diet now!

Love me some tagalongs!!

Hope everyone is well

When does the dining information come out - - semi-formal, formal, etc.

 

[SeaSpray]

Just checkin' in ... wasting some time before my daughter and I leave to go to the school for Night of the Stars.. The kids do skits .. it's fun!

Tomorrow is girl scout cookie deliver, ekkk! nevermind the diet now!

Love me some tagalongs!!

Hope everyone is well

When does the dining information come out - - semi-formal, formal, etc.

I hope you had fun at school. I used to love to see my sons perform when they were still in school. They were both in the orchestra band.

I LOVE Girl Scout cookies! I don't know anyone selling them this year, so that's good for my calorie-count. lol

I might be wrong, but I think that we won't know when formal night, semi-formal night, and Pirate Night, etc will be until we're onboard and see them listed in the Navigators (the daily newsletters). Since we're the first NYC-Bahamas cruise, there won't be anyone sailing our itinerary before us. But once we come back we can let the other NYC-Bahamas cruisers know what the schedule is.

Having said that, I know that the first night is always "cruise casual"; and they normally always have formal and semi-formal on at-sea days. Pirate Night, I'd guess, will be either the night of Nassau or Castaway Cay. I also think that our Port Canaveral day will be "cruise casual" because they know that so many people will be off the ship for most of the day/night and they won't want us to miss any of the special nights.

Any other past cruisers want to chime in? Do you think I'm close to guessing when the theme nights will be??

 

[FunWithTheKids]

I hope you had fun at school. I used to love to see my sons perform when they were still in school. They were both in the orchestra band.

I LOVE Girl Scout cookies! I don't know anyone selling them this year, so that's good for my calorie-count. lol

I might be wrong, but I think that we won't know when formal night, semi-formal night, and Pirate Night, etc will be until we're onboard and see them listed in the Navigators (the daily newsletters). Since we're the first NYC-Bahamas cruise, there won't be anyone sailing our itinerary before us. But once we come back we can let the other NYC-Bahamas cruisers know what the schedule is.

Having said that, I know that the first night is always "cruise casual"; and they normally always have formal and semi-formal on at-sea days. Pirate Night, I'd guess, will be either the night of Nassau or Castaway Cay. I also think that our Port Canaveral day will be "cruise casual" because they know that so many people will be off the ship for most of the day/night and they won't want us to miss any of the special nights.

Any other past cruisers want to chime in? Do you think I'm close to guessing when the theme nights will be??

When I was signing up for our excursions and stuff, the agenda on the Disney web site did list Pirate Night (and the Sail Away Party). They had the Pirate Party listed on the night we are in Nassau. It did not have any information on formal night though.

 

[SeaSpray]

When I was signing up for our excursions and stuff, the agenda on the Disney web site did list Pirate Night (and the Sail Away Party). They had the Pirate Party listed on the night we are in Nassau. It did not have any information on formal night though.

Thanks, Cora!!

 

[ge0rgette2]

Being a newbie, even if I pay in full, I can't book spa or any excursions right??