*May 26, 2012 - Mickey's Memorial Day Fantasy*

[SnowWhitee]

Hi all! I realized I have lurked, but not really posted since this thread began

Goofymama and Dawncala
We also have the Fury booked for Cozumel in the early am. Our girls are 8 and 10 (almost 11). This will be our first cruise and first snorkeling experience. See you there!

Speaking of excursions, we have the following booked:
Grand Cayman - Saltwater Forest through DCL
Costa Maya - Chacchoben Ruins tour through DCL
Cozumel - Fury Catamaran through DCL

Has anyone gone on the Saltwater Forest excursion before? If so, what did you think? I am really on the fence here. I would like to go to Rum Point on our own, but the reduced time in port makes me a little nervous. I really wanted to take an independent jeep tour of the island where you end up at Rum Point, but that is a 4-5 hour excursion and too close for comfort.

 

[PrinzessinLillifee]

Has anyone gone on the Saltwater Forest excursion before? If so, what did you think? I am really on the fence here. I would like to go to Rum Point on our own, but the reduced time in port makes me a little nervous. I really wanted to take an independent jeep tour of the island where you end up at Rum Point, but that is a 4-5 hour excursion and too close for comfort.

We've never been, but i've been in contact with Marnie who owns the company which does the Saltwater Forest. Also, on Trip Advisor they had really good reviews. She seems to be really nice. We would have liked to to the one you are doing but by the time we decided to go through DCL, it was all booked. So, we decided to scuba dive instead! You will have to tell us how it was though!

 

[mamastrick]

So jealous! I hope ours come today!!!

Got our documents today! So excited

 

[dennisbryce]

Got our documents today! So excited

Yeah!!!!

 

[capntavis]

Question - do you take a good camera on the catamaran or just a water disposable or waterproof camera? I'm debating on which to take on that excursion. I have a nice new Nikon D5100, but not sure if it is safe to take on the boat. I have a smaller Canon and then the kids have small cameras too. I just never seem to get good shots when we take the disposable water cameras in the water. I wouldn't take any good camera "in" the water, but wondered if it was safe to take pictures of the kids from the boat or is there just too much water splash? Thanks

I cheat and take my dive camera with me

 

[goofymama]

Hi all! I realized I have lurked, but not really posted since this thread began

Goofymama and Dawncala
We also have the Fury booked for Cozumel in the early am. Our girls are 8 and 10 (almost 11). This will be our first cruise and first snorkeling experience. See you there!
.

Fantastic! And im Glad you came out of lurkdom

The fury trip should be a lot of fun and I'm so happy to see that there will be fellow Dis'ers and will similarly aged kids. Get ready to and and and and

 

[firstcruise2012]

I thought I would post that we only have...

More days till we are on vacation!!!

I called my TA on Monday to pre-pay the gratuities. What else can I pre-pay????

She called back a couple of hours later and told me my package for the cruise arrived in tha mail. I pick it up after work that day....that was when I really started getting excited and realized how close we were to leaving.....It can't come soon enough!

 

[dennisbryce]

Hello Folks
We now have:
more days till we set sail

 

[alikat99]

Hi all! I realized I have lurked, but not really posted since this thread began

Goofymama and Dawncala
We also have the Fury booked for Cozumel in the early am. Our girls are 8 and 10 (almost 11). This will be our first cruise and first snorkeling experience. See you there!

Speaking of excursions, we have the following booked:
Grand Cayman - Saltwater Forest through DCL
Costa Maya - Chacchoben Ruins tour through DCL
Cozumel - Fury Catamaran through DCL

Has anyone gone on the Saltwater Forest excursion before? If so, what did you think? I am really on the fence here. I would like to go to Rum Point on our own, but the reduced time in port makes me a little nervous. I really wanted to take an independent jeep tour of the island where you end up at Rum Point, but that is a 4-5 hour excursion and too close for comfort.

Welcome to the group! Come out of lurkdom and post with us!! Your girls are the exact same ages as mine. Emily is 10 1/2 (going on 14) and Madison turns 8 in 10 days.

 

[postesf]

Hi guys! I posted on the main board, but didn't know if you some of you can help me...

I only booked this cruise on April 6. I thought we were driving but now DH wants to fly. On the DCL website, it says you have to book your DCL ground transfer 75 days prior to setting sail. Even had I booked flights when I booked my cruise, I was already 49 days out.

Can I still book the transfers? I don't want to book flights if I can't book transfers... Anyone know or have experience with this? I'm a little worried...

Thanks!

 

[alikat99]

Hi guys! I posted on the main board, but didn't know if you some of you can help me...

I only booked this cruise on April 6. I thought we were driving but now DH wants to fly. On the DCL website, it says you have to book your DCL ground transfer 75 days prior to setting sail. Even had I booked flights when I booked my cruise, I was already 49 days out.

Can I still book the transfers? I don't want to book flights if I can't book transfers... Anyone know or have experience with this? I'm a little worried...

Thanks!

Hey Stacie - since we're so close that we can drive over, I've never used DCL transfers. I would just call DCL in the morning and ask, if someone doesn't get back to you by the time that they open. Hopefully, you can though, since you booked so late.

 

[hoovpac55]

14 days in advance for ground tranfers

 

[shesesewsall]

We usually take a real camera with us when we are out on the water, but I don't know if I would take the Nikon. We will take a ziploc just in case it gets too splashy. I'm sure we will keep it on the boat and use the disposable waterproof camera for stingray/reef pictures. I agree the shots from the disposable are never as good. My past experience is that you can usually tell when you are going to get wet and have time to protect the real camera.

We have an Olympus TG810 ----- it is an underwater camera and is drop resistant! (as Dave says-- a perfect camera for me and when my grandbabies start grabbing gramma's stuff!) It takes EXCELLENT pictures--haven't tried it underwater yet, but the regular pictures are as good as our Nikon D3100! Often he uses the Nikon while I use the Olympus at the same time and its hard to tell which pictures were taken with what camera. Anxious to try it out in the water--although we currently have not a single excursion booked. We are leary of booking without knowing what condition I will be in after a week of rides and park hopping in Orlando prior to the cruise (after back surgery last summer and currently have other medical conditions that docs aren't thrilled I'm attempting this trip with). But I'm sure we will get good use of both cameras no matter what! We're known for taking LOTS and LOTS of pictures--hence the laptop coming with us to download the SD cards daily.

 

[shesesewsall]

Hi all! I realized I have lurked, but not really posted since this thread began

Well its about time you came out of lurkdom! We're glad to have you as part of the discussions! Be sure to check in on facebook with us as well! You can find us at https://www.facebook.com/#!/groups/170103903030453/. Thanks to some wonderful folks in our group--we've had some great topics/questions of the day here lately! Been quite fun. Can't wait to see your answers so we can get to know you better, too!

Oh and btw-- We are officially ready to as I got word from our TA this morning that our documents are IN!!!!! We will to get them in the morning!!!!!! SOOOOO Excited!!!

 

[disneymagicgirl]

Does anyone know if I can call and add money to our onboard account? If its already there DH won't nit-pick every little thing I am spending.

 

[Magic3forme]

Does anyone know if I can call and add money to our onboard account? If its already there DH won't nit-pick every little thing I am spending.

yes you can.....go to disney gifts and amenties... there is a section to add room credits....

or buy gift cards and add them.

but wont he see the bill total?

 

[shesesewsall]

OMG--my dear hubby is SOO good to me--sneaky, but good! He left work a little early and went to the TA to pick up cruise docs (without telling me). Had them stuck inside all of the mail when he came home and handed it all to me. I almost dropped everything else and just grabbed them -- once I figured out that's what it was!

It is NOW official! We are going on the cruise! OK it's been official since it was paid for, but now it feels REAL!

 

[Magic3forme]

OMG--my dear hubby is SOO good to me--sneaky, but good! He left work a little early and went to the TA to pick up cruise docs (without telling me). Had them stuck inside all of the mail when he came home and handed it all to me. I almost dropped everything else and just grabbed them -- once I figured out that's what it was!

It is NOW official! We are going on the cruise! OK it's been official since it was paid for, but now it feels REAL!

so glad you can "officially" join us!!

 

[our2disneygirls]

Hi everyone! We've posted a bit on this thread, but since it's grown so much I thought it might be good to restate a few things.

We are Mom, Dad, Emma and Hannah. Emma is 9 years old and rides horses. Hannah is 7 years old and is our resident artist. Both turn a year older in July and are looking for friends for on the cruise.

Mom and Dad plan on running the Castaway Cay 5k. We've run the Disneyland Half Marathon and are signed up for the Disneyworld Half in January 2013. We also plan on attending a few of adult beverage tastings.

In Grand Caymans, we're currently booked with Disney on the Shipwreck & Reef Snorkel. We've considered doing a snorkeling excursion on our own, but haven't heard about anyone doing the same.

In Costa Maya, we're doing Salsa & Salsa and would love to know if anyone is with us on this.

We're not signed up for anything for Cozumel yet, but are considering doing the Beach Buggy tour on our own. Disney won't let our 7 year old do it (age restriction) but at least one of the outside companies doesn't have an age restriction. Is anyone doing it on their own?

We look forward to meeting everyone soon. Do we get our lanyards on the meet and greet?

 

[shesesewsall]

Hi everyone! We've posted a bit on this thread, but since it's grown so much I thought it might be good to restate a few things.

We are Mom, Dad, Emma and Hannah. Emma is 9 years old and rides horses. Hannah is 7 years old and is our resident artist. Both turn a year older in July and are looking for friends for on the cruise.

Mom and Dad plan on running the Castaway Cay 5k. We've run the Disneyland Half Marathon and are signed up for the Disneyworld Half in January 2013. We also plan on attending a few of adult beverage tastings.

In Grand Caymans, we're currently booked with Disney on the Shipwreck & Reef Snorkel. We've considered doing a snorkeling excursion on our own, but haven't heard about anyone doing the same.

In Costa Maya, we're doing Salsa & Salsa and would love to know if anyone is with us on this.

We're not signed up for anything for Cozumel yet, but are considering doing the Beach Buggy tour on our own. Disney won't let our 7 year old do it (age restriction) but at least one of the outside companies doesn't have an age restriction. Is anyone doing it on their own?

We look forward to meeting everyone soon. Do we get our lanyards on the meet and greet?

First of all--welcome back to the group! As you can see we've all become quite chatty! And we're even MORE chatty on the fb page! I believe there are at least 2 others in the group planning on doing the salsa & salsa with you. We were wanting to--but they're saying there's no openings for the 3 of us. So I guess we'll be sitting it out instead. Gonna try to book once aboard since it won't let us online. I believe there are a 3 or 4 of the group that are doing the 5K--more power to all of you--we'll cheer you on, but there's no way we'll be running it! Looking forward to meeting you!