May 29, 2004---Who is with us?

[Mickeyhugger]

zmanmj, you will receive lots of helpful and useful information just from reading the DISboards each day, and from people on these posts eager to share their tips...

Here are some of DH's and mine..

Don't miss the sailaway party which begins shortly after the fire drill. (I think it starts around 5pm, but you'll know once you check in, there will be Cast Members everywhere to answer any questions you may have.) The party is on deck 9, and it's very exciting. The Disney characters make their first appearance, confetti pops out, and the ship's horn (don't want to spoil all the surprises) sounds when the ship starts to sail. (I've never done another cruise, but others who have say DCL's sailaway party is the best!

Since there are three full days at sea, try to book the Palo brunch for one of those days.

If you're arriving in Orlando or Port Canaveral the night before, you might want to pack your children's swimsuits in your carry-on luggage. (Many families go to the Mickey pool the first day after lunch.)

Take advantage of room service whenever you're hungry during nonmealtimes. (It's free, tips are appreciated.) I haven't ordered from room service yet, but everyone says the cheese tray is good, and I'm eager to try other things on there as well.

See as many of the shows as you can. (The 'Welcome Aboard' variety show the first night is great, and it gets you really excited for the week ahead. (So does the sailaway party, I forgot to mention.)

The servers in the dining rooms are happy to bring anyone in your family an extra entree, appetizer, dessert, etc. (DH couldn't decide one night if he wanted the steak or lobster, so our server brought both!) Also, I love desserts, and there were some nights that I ordered two!

You may also want to purchase autograph books (they sell them onboard) for you children. There are many photo and autograph opportunities, especially at sea days.

Bring lots of sunscreen.

These are only a FEW tips. Anyone else out there care to share theirs?

(What part of Dallas are you and your family from?)

 

[zmanmj]

THanks for the info. We live in McKinney...outside of Dallas.

 

[tchrmom]

Welcome, zmanmj!
This is our 3rd Disney cruise, and one bit of advice that I found VERY useful is to buy an inexpensive over the door shoe holder. (the kind that has @ 24 plastic pockets.) There is NOT enough storage room in your bathroom, so by hanging these over the door, toothpaste, contact lens stuff, toothbrushes, brushes, sunscreen, deoderant, band-aids, etc. all has an easy to reach place. On our October cruise, we had a cat. 10, that had split bathrooms, and I even found it useful to have 2 of them!
Fran

 

[zmanmj]

Has anyone stayed in a room directly across from the elevators? Is it noisy?

 

[XLT800]

Welcome Zmanmj

My advice would be to try new foods and encourage your kids to try new things also. Also, get to the port early and take advantage of your 1st day. Do not skip Palo, it is the best!!

There is lots of experience on this thread so keep the questions coming.

Dave

 

[Brenbug]

Originally posted by zmanmj
Has anyone stayed in a room directly across from the elevators? Is it noisy?

Zmanmj,

Shouldn't be a problem. We stayed in 6068 or 6066 once, the elevators were right there and we didn't notice a thing. My folks stayed across the hall in 6067 which ran right along side the elevator and they had no problems either. There was a bit of a buffer zone between the mid-ship elevators and any rooms.

 

[Mickeylover]

OK, folks. Are you "deck 9ers" or "deck10ers" for the sail-away party?

My family tends to be front and center during the Cha-cha slide-- (they still do that one, don't they?) You'll find me there with the drink of the day!





Hey, those of you who have booked your excursions, have you gotten your confirmations? My DM already got hers and booked the same day--I've seen nothing yet and now getting mildly worried.

 

[tchrmom]

Originally posted by Brenbug
Zmanmj,

. My folks stayed across the hall in 6067 which ran right along side the elevator and they had no problems either.


HEY!

We were in 6067 for our first cruise! Loved it! Great location. No NOISE!

Fran

 

[Brenbug]

Good evening Mickeylover. I'd say we are Deck 10, pina-colada in hand, Sail-Away people. I love waving to the people in the park and bars as we head out of port and out to sea!

 

[Mickeyhugger]

Hey Mickeylover,

We received our excursion confirmation just a few days after we booked.

Maybe you should call Disney, just to be sure?

We're deck 9er's!

 

[chairee0]

We got our excurision confirmation a few days ago.

What is the skinny on the green DIS t-shirts. I seen it mentioned on other threads but wasn't sure what it is all about. Is this a shirt you can buy?

 

[XLT800]

We have done deck 9 and deck 10. I can only speak for myself but I like to start off on 9 and move to 10 as it gets closer to 5.

I received a faxed confirmation on excursions the day I called in. I would call DCL to find out whats up.

Chairee0: You can order the Dis shirts through the disboards or you can wear any lime green shirt. Take a look at our picture on Pauls spreadsheet. It is an easy way to identify a DIS person. It also helped us keep track of the kids!!

Dave

 

[Mickeylover]

Well, I called and they confirmed what I had booked. They said they would fax, again, my confirmation to Dreams, and mail me another one.

As far as Dreams Unlimited goes, has anyone else used them? I honestly have been less impressed with my experience with them this time than the last time I used them. NO huge problems--but delays in responses that I wasn't accustomed to in the past.

Seems like some folks are now getting their 5-22 docs--so I guess I need to start buttering up the UPS guy.

 

[XLT800]

I will take a Mudslide and DW will take drink of the day. Yes, our doc's came today. Who will be next??? No signing required. They were brought by UPS and left at the front door.

Have a good one!

Dave

 

[Mickeylover]

Well, I hedged my bets by giving my UPS guy(who delivers to my home and my office because as I've said before--we live in the STICKS!) a heads up they were coming.

I had my office assistant to tell Donald to look out for my docs and bring them to the office. These drink orders are getting pretty hefty and at this point, I'll have to bag an excursion to cover them!

Oh my gosh I can't WAIT!

 

[NYdiscuisers]

Originally posted by XLT800


I will take a Mudslide and DW will take drink of the day. Yes, our doc's came today. Who will be next??? No signing required. They were brought by UPS and left at the front door.

Have a good one!

Dave

Okay, I'll add a column to the spreadsheet to track this. That way we'll all know who's buying! Dave, does this dance include flhmom, too?

Paul

 

[zmanmj]

Does anyone that is cruising on May 29 have a DS that is 8 or a DD that is 5? My kids are hoping to meet some kids to hang around with.

 

[zmanmj]

I have my days to cruise counter set wrong and I can't remember how I set it up. Can anyone help?

 

[NYdiscuisers]

Originally posted by zmanmj
Does anyone that is cruising on May 29 have a DS that is 8 or a DD that is 5? My kids are hoping to meet some kids to hang around with.

zmanmj,
We have a DD who will be turning 6 in about 2 weeks. Check out this link (http://www.geocities.com/p_bunce/cruise2.html) and click on the who's who link to see some info about some of the other dis families onboard and their plans.

If you want to be added, just let me know.

Paul

 

[Mickeylover]

OK, so maybe I'm not living in the sticks as much as I thought, my buddy Donald from UPS just brought my cruise docs to the office!

Zmanmj, my DS is 8 and is really excited about meeting some other kids his age to hang out with. (His DB is 14 and he's worried that it won't be too "cool" to hang out with the little brother.)

Paul, I STILL haven't gotten a picture anywhere to send you. I'll try to do that. Also, as an update on excursions. my Dad and DB are going on the Dolphin Swim in Anguilla, the 5 star, and the parasailing. (DM won't be doing any of those things--she prefers shopping with DU and DA.)