May 25th, 2008 West Coast - Mexico

[4campers]

Hi everyone!

Recbecca love your pictures! I have one of us at the same spot on the beach at St. John! I should try and find it. It's so funny the same spot! Great pictures!!! Love the airplane shot!

Hope everyone in southern California is enjoying our beautiful weather It's been SO nice.

Heading out to the desert this weekend for more sun and a campfire

 

[princessdaisy]

Rebecca - The photos are wonderful! thanks so much for sharing with us I really loved doing the Eastern on the Magic...the water is so beautiful.

We are enjoying the warm weather here in San Diego...just came back from the beach and it was awesome (but the water is sooooo cold ).

We leave for our Hawaii cruise in two weeks but to tell the truth, I am more excited for this Disney cruise but don't tell my hubby that! LOL

 

[MousseauMob]

What AWESOME photo's! You made my day and brought a greatly needed smile to my face!

 

[MrSanderz]

I glad you all liked the photos. Especially glad I made you smile, MousseauMob.

princessdaisy-We're enjoying the weather too. We hit 94 on Monday but I know what you mean about the cold water. After our Hawaii trip in 2005 we went to the beach when we got back and it was so depressing. The water was freezing and our sand is so fine and dirty.

4campers- That's cool that you have the same shot. I took a sequence of 4 pics panning from one end of the beach to the other.

We're heading down south tomorrow. We're visiting my best friend in Thousand Oaks and on Sunday we're seeing "My Little Pony" live on stage at the Kodak theatre in Hollywood. Have a great weekend everyone!

 

[sasha]

Wow, I've missed a lot! I haven't checked on this thread in about a week.

Rebecca, those are GREAT pictures! You have a beautiful family! I'm so glad we have DD's the same age (4). Hopefully they'll get to meet and hang out on our cruise next year. Your pictures made me even more excited about our trip. Do you happen to remember where you got those adorable shirts for your girls in the 1st photo (red with white polka dots)? I would love to find something like that for my girls for one of our many trips to DL. I like to dress my DD's alike every now and then. Hope you have a good time at My Little Pony. The Kodak Theatre is great. We were just there not too long ago to see "Barney Live On Stage" to celebrate my youngest DD's 2nd birthday. You should try to walk across the street to Disney's Soda Fountain (next door to the El Capitan) for some ice cream either before or after the show. Have fun!

MousseauMob - I'm banking on the ginger pills too. I heard the trick is to take them before your trip so they get working in your system.

 

[MousseauMob]

MousseauMob - I'm banking on the ginger pills too. I heard the trick is to take them before your trip so they get working in your system.

Thanks, I'll keep that in mind.

Boy, 5 year old girls are gonna rule on this cruise! I'm bringing along 2 (they are 4 currently). Maybe we should nickname it the Disney Princess Cruise! Although my son is liable to boycott if we do!

 

[JennyW]

We have on hold some reservations for this cruise. My mom and stepdad are planning on taking me and my family, and my sister and her family. My mom plans to put the deposit down in the next couple of days. I am SO excited. I just hope nothing comes up to make us need to cancel! I've never been on a cruise. Neither has my sister. My mom and stepdad have been on a few, but never DCL. So here's what we're booking:

Category 5 for mom and stepdad
Category 11 for me, my husband, my daughter (she turns 7 on the cruise!!), my son (he'll be 4)
Category 11 for my sister, her husband, her daughter (she'll be 4), and hopefully their soon-to-be son (they're adopting - he'll be 1 at the time)

There was no category 12 when I tried to book. Does that mean no chance of upgrade?

Also, unfortunately all the early dinner seatings were taken, so we got put on the wait list. What are our chances of getting the earlier seating? Who eats after 8pm, anyway? That's crazy talk. =)

 

[MousseauMob]

We have on hold some reservations for this cruise. My mom and stepdad are planning on taking me and my family, and my sister and her family. My mom plans to put the deposit down in the next couple of days. I am SO excited. I just hope nothing comes up to make us need to cancel! I've never been on a cruise. Neither has my sister. My mom and stepdad have been on a few, but never DCL.

Welcome! I hope things work out and you join us! How sweet of your mom and stepdad to take the family. I think you'll love cruising and especially Disney! They just know how to add all the little magical touches and there's nothing like seeing the kids eyes light up when they see the characters.

So here's what we're booking:
Category 5 for mom and stepdad
Category 11 for me, my husband, my daughter (she turns 7 on the cruise!!), my son (he'll be 4)
Category 11 for my sister, her husband, her daughter (she'll be 4), and hopefully their soon-to-be son (they're adopting - he'll be 1 at the time)

There was no category 12 when I tried to book. Does that mean no chance of upgrade?

A category 12 wouldn't be an upgrade for you. The numbers go in descending order - so a category 10 or less would be an upgrade, which means you might still luck out! Here's a bit of pixie dust - to help!

Also, unfortunately all the early dinner seatings were taken, so we got put on the wait list. What are our chances of getting the earlier seating? Who eats after 8pm, anyway? That's crazy talk. =)

I suspect that early seating will be difficult on this cruise due to it being on the West Coast and I think we may have less older kids since it's before school is out. But, don't give up hope, if the wait list doesn't pan out, after boarding go talk to the dining room about availability.

I'm traveling with DS 12 (at cruise time), DD 5 (at cruise time), adult daughter and darling granddaughter 5 (at cruise time) *yes we did a Father of the Bride 2 - having our babies only 4 months apart! , and with my sister - whom if I told you her age she'd kill me!

Don't forget to let your Travel Agent or Disney know about your daughter's birthday!

 

[JennyW]

Well, my mom called and put down the deposit, so we're officially hopefully going! My mom's had some health issues, though, so I'm tempering my enthusiasm with some realistic expectations, but I can still plan anyway. That's half the fun!

 

[sasha]

Welcome JennyW! I hope it all works out and you're able to go. Planning is a big part of the fun. As soon as we put the deposit down I bought 2 DCL books and ordered the free DVD. I'm having so much fun planning even though it's over a year away.

Rebecca, I was in Target today and found those shirts on the clearance rack. Woo Hoo! I don't know if they're the ones you got your DD's, but they sure look similar. Only $5, so I bought navy also. It looked so cute paired with the Minnie Ears. Guess what my DD will be wearing to DL on Tuesday?

 

[MrSanderz]

Rebecca, I was in Target today and found those shirts on the clearance rack. Woo Hoo! I don't know if they're the ones you got your DD's, but they sure look similar. Only $5, so I bought navy also. It looked so cute paired with the Minnie Ears. Guess what my DD will be wearing to DL on Tuesday?

Yep, I bought mine at Target also. I'm glad they still had them. Have fun at Disneyland!

 

[MrSanderz]

Hi JennyW and to the group! Yes, planning is half the fun.

About late seating. We had late on our last cruise and are doing late again. Our DD's are 4 and 9 and did fine with the late seating. I figured if they were going to be tired I'd rather have them enjoy the early show at 6:15 and fall asleep at dinner than eat dinner early and sleep during the show. It turned out that they stayed awake and enjoyed late dinner every night. My DD4 napped a few days and we would get chicken tenders around 5:00 to hold us over everyday. We are in port pretty late a couple of days on this cruise so with late dinner you can relax and not be in a rush to get ready to eat at 5:30. Also on the sea days on our cruise there was a 2:00 show as well. We went to that show and then hit the pools around 5:00 and they were pretty empty at that time. It was the best time to swim. I think there are pros and cons to both dinner seatings so I wouldn't worry too much about it.

 

[JennyW]

We're going to do a canopy tour in Puerto Vallarta, but either that afternoon, or on one of the other stops, my husband is interested in swimming in the ocean down there. Chances are that the rest of us will be shopping, and he'd rather not go swimming alone. He'll be 37 at the time of our cruise. Is there anyone out there interested in an ocean swimming companion? He's not a die hard swimmer, just wants to play and look for critters. Thanks.

 

[MrSanderz]

Hi Jenny,
My DH and I love to snorkel and are hoping that Disney has a snorkeling excursion at one of the ports. We just talked his parents into booking the cruise this past weekend so now we have someone to stay with the girls if we do a snorkel trip.
We are not big shoppers and will probably be spending at least a couple days at the beaches, maybe on a DCL excursion. Your DH is welcome to hang out with us. I've been to all three ports on land vacations and the weather has always been nice. We even swam and jetskied in Cabo in December and the water was not that cold at all

 

[MousseauMob]

Just wanted to share a cool sunscreen - you spray it on and you don't have to rub it in - it sprays on with a fine mist - so no gunk. http://www.kinesys.com/

 

[JennyW]

Anyone know when they'll come out with the 2008 DCL planning DVD? We just got the current one in the mail, and while it says 2007-2008, nothing is on it about the Mexican Riviera or repositioning cruises.

 

[tlynk]

Count us in! We were going to go June 1, but decided it makes more sense to go May 25, since we will be celebrating 2 birthdays and one graduation, plus it is a little cheaper. The best part is that we don't have to waist two whole days flying. I'm so excited Disney is coming back to the West Coast. DH is actually pretty excited too (which is unusual).

 

[MousseauMob]

Count us in! We were going to go June 1, but decided it makes more sense to go May 25, since we will be celebrating 2 birthdays and one graduation, plus it is a little cheaper. The best part is that we don't have to waist two whole days flying. I'm so excited Disney is coming back to the West Coast. DH is actually pretty excited too (which is unusual).

Welcome aboard! We're glad you're joining us!

 

[tlynk]

Welcome aboard! We're glad you're joining us!

Thank you

 

[MrSanderz]

Hi tlynk and welcome aboard! What part of CA are you from?

This thread has been quiet lately.
MousseauMob and princessdaisy- you are either cruising Hawaii now or leaving very soon. Have a wonderful trip! I can't wait to hear about it when you return (and see some pics)!
Hope everyone had a Happy Easter and is enjoying their spring break!