May 30, 2009 - Western Cruise Magic

[klcason]

Ok, so because I am incredibly nosy, I have been watching the dcl site for our cruise, checking pricing. So as of yesterday there are no more cat 11's or 12's. Wonder what is up with that???

btw, congrats on the b-day. my dd will be 9 the week after our cruise, she thinks she is soooo grown up.

We are planning to do the trolley in Key West on our own also, did you get the coupon where the kids 4-12 are free?

We are doing a waverunner excursion in Cayman and the Nachi Cochum in Cozumel, both on our own.

Not sure about Castaway, we will probably not snorkel though, may do the bike and float.

Hoping for a Palo brunch and dinner and some spa appts. Anyone have any tips about online booking, like what I should book first????

Kayla

 

[brucechase]

It was just a couple of weeks ago that Cat 12 was still open since my brother said he might want to go (but still is wishy washy). It would have been just him and his GF. I did see that Cat 11 was open though.

Coupon?!?!?! Where did you get the kids free coupon? I am definately thinking about that so that would be great.

What is the Nachi Cochum in Cozumel? I guess I need to start doing some research.

No tips for online booking. Since this is my first return cruise, I am excited to see what happens this Sunday. I will probably just get up early Sunday morning (like at 7:00) to book (instead of staying up past midnight like everyone else does). I hope that isn't a mistake. I am interested in tips for booking also.

 

[sebamt]

We also want to do the trolley in Key West and Nachi Cocum in Cozumel (Nachi is an all-inclusive beach resort that only takes a limited number of guests every day -- it gets awesome reviews on other forums - http://www.cozumelnachicocom.net/). For Grand Cayman we're doing the Rays, Reef, and Rum excursion with Native Way.

We're also looking for booking tips for March 1, as it is our 2nd cruise. Anyone?

 

[BibbidyBobbidyBoo]

Ok, so because I am incredibly nosy, I have been watching the dcl site for our cruise, checking pricing. So as of yesterday there are no more cat 11's or 12's. Wonder what is up with that???

btw, congrats on the b-day. my dd will be 9 the week after our cruise, she thinks she is soooo grown up.

We are planning to do the trolley in Key West on our own also, did you get the coupon where the kids 4-12 are free?

We are doing a waverunner excursion in Cayman and the Nachi Cochum in Cozumel, both on our own.

Not sure about Castaway, we will probably not snorkel though, may do the bike and float.

Hoping for a Palo brunch and dinner and some spa appts. Anyone have any tips about online booking, like what I should book first????

Kayla

Well I'm hoping that booking won't be as hard this time as on my past two cruises. but both my other cruises were "special" (first cruise to go to CC twice, and then the Panama Canal cruise) so both had a TON of DIS'ers on those cruises- which means they were ALL up at midnight booking things. LOL
I'm hoping it's not going to be like that this time! We're not a huge group but who knows how many are going and just not posting on this thread- yanno?

I did not get a coupon! Where do I get that coupon for the trolley?!? Please help on that one!!! LOL

 

[klcason]

Here is the link for the page with the coupon, there are tons of other Key West coupons also.

http://www.fla-keys.com/ValuCation/print-coupon.cfm

scroll down almost to the bottom and there is a coupon for the trolley and train. I sent an e-mail and you have to wait to buy your tickets at the station, you can't buy online.

The Nachi Cochum link is below. It looks super nice and has some really good reviews.

http://cozumelcruiseexcursions.com/CozumelBeachBreak.htm

Now, since I am in Central Time in Louisiana I can do my ressies at 11:00pm my time correct?????? Isn't is midnight Eastern? Also, is that on the night of the 28th or the 1st?

Kayla

 

[BibbidyBobbidyBoo]

Thanks for the link! I'm only one adult though so only one child free (Ruby wouldn't be free anyway even if DH was coming with us) So I need to crunch numbers to see if that saves more than getting the tickets online. Thanks though because I did a search online and couldn't find it! LOL

Let's see... it's the 1st actual booking but at midnight eastern- so that means on the night of the 28th at 11pm for us CST'ers. LOL

 

[klcason]

Cool, that's what I thought, guess I will be up a little late tomorrow night. I have gotten all but our last day ADR for WDW the week before, that is always nice to have done!!

Hope the coupon works out for you! Every little bit helps.

Kayla

 

[BibbidyBobbidyBoo]

Well the coupon would save us $5. I'm not sure it's worth that to worry about getting the tickets when we get there- I'm thinking long lines? Plus do they ever "sell out" or do they keep selling tickets even if there is a bazillion people wanting to go on the tour that day? LOL I dunno- something to think about.It would be SO worth it if we had 2 adults going though.... the cpn seems to say one child free per paying adult- me alone with the kids doesn't work out so great.
WAIT........ a...... minute.
If I'm paying adult for Ruby since she's 15- she counts as an adult then right? So that's 2 adult prices- so 2 kids free, right? If that's right- then it will save me almost $20.... am I thinking right on that?

Which one are y'all doing? Conch Tour Train or Old Town Trolley?

 

[BibbidyBobbidyBoo]

Cool, that's what I thought, guess I will be up a little late tomorrow night. I have gotten all but our last day ADR for WDW the week before, that is always nice to have done!!

Hope the coupon works out for you! Every little bit helps.

Kayla

Are you not staying onsite? I ask because I'm wondering why you don't have the last day yet?

And wait a minute..... so you'll be at WDW the week before? so will we! Did you already say that and I forgot? ack I'm losing my mind. Too much to remember with these kids and their activities/etc. LOL (for instance tonight Rita going to GS camping- so right now I'm sorta procrastinating on getting all her stuff packed LOL, Robert having a friend sleep over tonight & then basketball game in the morning, and Ruby having movie night 7-11pm tonight with GS- and Jeff is working late tonight and going in all day tomorrow! So it's me and these busy kids. LOL)

 

[klcason]

HA! Know whatcha mean about being busy!!! DH had surgery on Wednesday and I have been off work for a couple of days so it has been so calm, I almost don't know what to do!!!!!!! The kids are back home now though, so time for rollerskates again.

I think your calculations are correct, I would use the coupon if I were you!! We are doing the trolley so we can hop on and off, I think the train is non stop, I think??

We are arriving in the world on May 23 for 7 nights before the cruise. We are renting a house off property, so 1 more ADR for Crystal Palace and I am DONE!

Where in Texas are you?? Since I am next door in Louisiana!! Are you all driving or flying?

Kayla

 

[homespun]

OK, just paid off our cruise in anticipation of the March 1 90 day deadline. I now have no idea on what we are going to do and when.

I want to try Palo, but don't know which night to try it.

I don't know what to do at Key West other than walk around.

I want to do the turtle thing at the Caymans, but not sure on how to do that and other things.

DW want to do the authentic cooking in Cozumel but what can we do with the kids. I'm hoping there is a beach nearby. The ruins looks way to far away and too long to enjoy. I would love to do a mountain bike, but no one else would enjoy that as much.

Haven't even thought about Castaway Cay yet.

I also need to get insurance today. I was looking at insuremytrip and getting travelex lite since they will reimburse for shore excursions if the ship alters the intinerary and you don't book thru them.

Anyone have any thoughts on what they are doing/

By the way, my 9 YO is now a 10YO today!!!!!!!!!!!

Now it's down to the nitty gritty and planning those fun excursions.

In Key West we're still up in the air - but either will be on our own - either the Trolley or Electric Cars. I've been reading that parking is difficult, so right now we are leaning towards the Trolley - but those electric cars look fun too.

In Grand Cayman we're hoping for the Nautilus Sub with the snorkeling included. DH doesn't swim but this looks like it's fine for those that don't snorkel as we'll have only about 30 minutes to snorkel, which is fine

On Cozumel we booked the dolphin swim (not the Royal, the Dorsal Fin Swim) on our own at 1 PM -- Anyone else doing that at that time?

Key West - we hope to relax, snorkel near the family beach and then maybe hit the adult beach a bit and the Sting Rays if we can get in.

Karen

 

[homespun]

I think she's talking about FE gifts- not magnets. Your own magnets you can personalize to thwart thieves.. but FE gifts you have no control over since they are GIVEN to you.

I will say this- on our PC cruise we had a ton of kids (teens/preteens) and I didn't hear about things in FE's being stolen. but honestly a lot of the gifts we'd never know if they were stolen or not... I do know there were a few things mentioned on the thread after the cruise that we sure never got- so now I wonder if we did have things stolen? LOL

Personally I put things in FE usually late at night because I'm a nightowl trying to find things to do while my family is sleeping anyway (and/or was waiting up for my eldest to come back to her room so I could go to sleep -but DH and other two kids were already asleep) and so there was less chance of the majority of people even being up that late- and likely everyone checked their FE first thing in the morning and got their things before someone could steal them? I don't know if that late night plan will work for others though. I think it might be too hard to 'schedule' a time to put out FE gifts- everyone has their own time they like to do that or can work it in their schedule. Well our last cruise had a LOT on the FE list so that might have made a difference. LOL

I'm just going to cross my fingers that our cruise isn't made up of thieving hooligans.... it takes a really cruel person to steal from kids IMO!

That's a great idea -- Thanks for the tip and I'm keeping my fingers crossed too.

 

[liliagm]

Well, I don't know what to do... my credit card (disney) cuts on the 28th and the TA (dreams unlimited) recommended to pay on that day so that I can book on March 1st.... but I wanted for the charge to go to the credit card for the next month so that I could get some more time to start paying it off.... but then again i still have to pay that anyway and I don't know how many of us will be doing their reservations on 3/1......I could also wait until monday 3/2 and see what's left.. I'm mainly worried about Palo brunch.... ughhh....

We are also planing on doing the trolley thing at key west, and the turtle farm at Grand cayman, all on our own...and we haven't decided on cozumel, but, because we are originally from mexico and DH lived in Merida (4 hrs from Cancun) well we have been there already so we are thinking of maybe going to the mainland and try and get his family to drive down and meet us...

so much to think about..... when is everybody doing Palo dinner? I'm thinking of skiping formal night, DH wasn't to happy about the whole tux thing....

 

[klcason]

Well, I don't know what to do... my credit card (disney) cuts on the 28th and the TA (dreams unlimited) recommended to pay on that day so that I can book on March 1st.... but I wanted for the charge to go to the credit card for the next month so that I could get some more time to start paying it off.... but then again i still have to pay that anyway and I don't know how many of us will be doing their reservations on 3/1......I could also wait until monday 3/2 and see what's left.. I'm mainly worried about Palo brunch.... ughhh....

We are also planing on doing the trolley thing at key west, and the turtle farm at Grand cayman, all on our own...and we haven't decided on cozumel, but, because we are originally from mexico and DH lived in Merida (4 hrs from Cancun) well we have been there already so we are thinking of maybe going to the mainland and try and get his family to drive down and meet us...

so much to think about..... when is everybody doing Palo dinner? I'm thinking of skiping formal night, DH wasn't to happy about the whole tux thing....

We are going to skip formal night, not at all interested in that. So I think we are going to try Palo for that night.

Kayla

 

[cruisefanz]

Hi~ we are booked on this May 30 cruise! We have 3 cat 12 cabins. This will be our 2nd DC. Our first Western. Members of our party include: Nana and Pops --the grands, DH (44) and I (40), DD-15 (will turn 16 in June), DS-12, twin sons--7 (will turn 8 in June).
We would love to participate in your FE. Please add us to your list.

 

[mmmagic7754]

Hi~ we are booked on this May 30 cruise! We have 3 cat 12 cabins. This will be our 2nd DC. Our first Western. Members of our party include: Nana and Pops --the grands, DH (44) and I (40), DD-15 (will turn 16 in June), DS-12, twin sons--7 (will turn 8 in June).
We would love to participate in your FE. Please add us to your list.

Welcome aboard!!!!We have a DS-15,sure they will run into each other in the Stack

 

[BibbidyBobbidyBoo]

HA! Know whatcha mean about being busy!!! DH had surgery on Wednesday and I have been off work for a couple of days so it has been so calm, I almost don't know what to do!!!!!!! The kids are back home now though, so time for rollerskates again.

I think your calculations are correct, I would use the coupon if I were you!! We are doing the trolley so we can hop on and off, I think the train is non stop, I think??

We are arriving in the world on May 23 for 7 nights before the cruise. We are renting a house off property, so 1 more ADR for Crystal Palace and I am DONE!

Where in Texas are you?? Since I am next door in Louisiana!! Are you all driving or flying?

Kayla

Oh no, surgery?!? I hope he's okay!
I'm near the DFW area but don't live in the big cities. LOL
We're driving this time- and staying in our TT at Fort Wilderness. First time for us to do that instead of staying in a resort room but with a family of 5... it's not easy to do a "budget" trip before the "discount" cruise. LOL So we're doing FW- we've been wanting to anyway for awhile- the driving just adds time that DH has to take off work though.

We'll be at the parks at the same time! We should get there sometime on the 23rd- that's when we're checking in but not sure what time yet. Depends on if I can end up helping drive towing that TT -or not... if not, we'll have to stop somewhere and let DH sleep. I usually do all the driving if we drive long distances and drove most of the way last time we drove to WDW- he gets sleepy at the wheel if he drives too much and definitely has to get his sleep at night. He can't be driving all night while everyone is sleeping like I did last time! LOL But I wasn't towing the TT then either...
Looks like we'll be driving thru your neck of the woods. LOL

Okay yeah I read more about that train and definitely doing trolley- that's the reason I wanted to do it on my own so if we wanted to get off- we could. I didn't like that DCL excursion made you just drive around and stay on the entire time!

Hi~ we are booked on this May 30 cruise! We have 3 cat 12 cabins. This will be our 2nd DC. Our first Western. Members of our party include: Nana and Pops --the grands, DH (44) and I (40), DD-15 (will turn 16 in June), DS-12, twin sons--7 (will turn 8 in June).
We would love to participate in your FE. Please add us to your list.

Welcome to the group! I have a DD15, DS 11 (11.5 at time of cruise) and DD8 (turns 9 just a cpl weeks after the cruise- in June). Oh and we're about the same age... DH turns 43 in a few days, I turn 40 this summer after the cruise. LOL

So many here are in cat 12's (we have 2) it will be interesting as we get closer to see who gets upgraded and more importantly... who ends up on different decks or not.

 

[BibbidyBobbidyBoo]

Well, I don't know what to do... my credit card (disney) cuts on the 28th and the TA (dreams unlimited) recommended to pay on that day so that I can book on March 1st.... but I wanted for the charge to go to the credit card for the next month so that I could get some more time to start paying it off.... but then again i still have to pay that anyway and I don't know how many of us will be doing their reservations on 3/1......I could also wait until monday 3/2 and see what's left.. I'm mainly worried about Palo brunch.... ughhh....

We are also planing on doing the trolley thing at key west, and the turtle farm at Grand cayman, all on our own...and we haven't decided on cozumel, but, because we are originally from mexico and DH lived in Merida (4 hrs from Cancun) well we have been there already so we are thinking of maybe going to the mainland and try and get his family to drive down and meet us...

so much to think about..... when is everybody doing Palo dinner? I'm thinking of skiping formal night, DH wasn't to happy about the whole tux thing....

I really don't know how big of a deal it will be to book tomorrow night/Sunday morning. We don't have a whole lot of people on this thread- not sure how many are just not participating in this thread... so who really knows how busy it will be?
But honestly everyone says if you get on board early you can get palo reservations anyway. They apparently hold some back for booking onboard which is only fair because not EVERYONE even has a computer or knows about booking online and all that. Yanno?

You don't have to wear a tux for formal night. It's fine if you don't want to do it- but I'm just letting you know that. I'm not sure yet what we're going to do. But in the past we have gone to formal/semi-formal and DH has never worn a tux- he's never even worn a suit! He wears a white shirt, black tie one night/mickey floral & black tie another night- black belt, black pants, black shoes. That's it. No jacket even. I've only seen a FEW people dressed up in tuxes on the cruises I've been on.

We're just not sure yet what we're going to do. Our first cruise we did late dining and it didn't work out well with the kids- they kept having the most exciting activities in the club and the lab right when we were having late dining! The last half (or more) of the cruise the kids kept eating fast and then one of us taking them each one at a time to check them in for the activities. It really disrupted our dinner- not relaxing at all. This 2nd cruise we had late dining, told the kids they did NOT have to eat with us (except a few "themed" nights- they ate with us only 2 nights out of the 15nt cruise) and at first actually didn't even plan on eating in the dining rooms at all- ever! But then I kinda got talked into it by someone else in our group for that cruise to eat with them (we tend to get seated by ourselves as a family of 5- and we certianly didn't want to sit at a table for 6 by ourselves just DH and I since the kids weren't eating with us!)

But this time we have main dining. I didn't even ask for it- when we transferred baltic 2010 to this cruise our ressies said main dining waitlist- and I didn't change it. Then it changed to main dining confirmed. I thought maybe we'd give that a try. Really it's not getting ready any earlier because we end up getting ready early for the show before dinner anyway! Also last time having the kids NOT eat with us didn't work so great either- we had to take them around making sure they were fed before they went to club/lab while we ate- because they did NOT like going with the club/lab to eat basically preplated buffet food. They wanted to eat what they wanted to eat and it wasn't that stuff- so that just made us working on feeding them while trying to get ourselves ready for show & dinner! So we're trying main dining- and I think we'll have the kids eat with us.. it's during the time the club/lab eat anyway and they won't miss the activities that tend to be during late dining time.

I'm not buying a bunch of clothes for us to wear on formal/semi if we go those nights though. We will wear what we wear for church (or better- DH doesn't wear that to church! We're in texas- perfectly acceptable for him to wear a button down shirt, pants and boots LOL) -anyway- if we eat those nights in the dining room DH will wear the same thing as the other times- white button down shirt, tie, black belt/slacks/shoes. I'll be wearing whatever dress fits me at that time -hoping I can lose enough to fit into some of my nicer stuff I haven't fit in -in years. LOL But basically just a regular dress and/or maybe a pretty blouse and long black skirt with heels- nothing fancy and definitely not a formal gown. My girls will wear dresses they already have since they wear dresses to church- and same for son... he'll wear black pants, shirt and tie like he wears to church. He may have on black tennis shoes though because he outgrew his dress shoes and at the rate his feet keep growoing I'm LOATHE to buy him another pair right now. LOL He even outgrew a pair that I'd bought a size up that he hadn't even worn at all! That's how fast his feet grew. If anyone has a problem with him wearing one of his black tennis shoes (they are all black- he likes black tennies) they can kiss my ..... you know what. LOL I don't begrudge those that dress up though- I like to look at how pretty they are. I just don't think it's a big deal if others don't dress up. I've never understood those that have a "problem" with the way others dress.... and it's not like we'll be walking in in shorts and tank tops or something- we'll still be DECENT. Yanno? If it's good enough for church- it's good enough for that dinner (IMO)

We may just skip those nights though- I'm not sure. I really don't want to miss the lobster though! LOL WE really have to see what time we get for main dining (hoping for the latest main dining time!) and also have to see how this works for us. If even main dining doesn't work well- we may just say forget it.. LOL

 

[klcason]

Hi~ we are booked on this May 30 cruise! We have 3 cat 12 cabins. This will be our 2nd DC. Our first Western. Members of our party include: Nana and Pops --the grands, DH (44) and I (40), DD-15 (will turn 16 in June), DS-12, twin sons--7 (will turn 8 in June).
We would love to participate in your FE. Please add us to your list.

Yeah, welcome! My ds will be so excited, he will turn 8 in October. So many Cat 12's, should be interesting!

Kayla

 

[klcason]

Oh no, surgery?!? I hope he's okay!
I'm near the DFW area but don't live in the big cities. LOL
We're driving this time- and staying in our TT at Fort Wilderness. First time for us to do that instead of staying in a resort room but with a family of 5... it's not easy to do a "budget" trip before the "discount" cruise. LOL So we're doing FW- we've been wanting to anyway for awhile- the driving just adds time that DH has to take off work though.

We'll be at the parks at the same time! We should get there sometime on the 23rd- that's when we're checking in but not sure what time yet. Depends on if I can end up helping drive towing that TT -or not... if not, we'll have to stop somewhere and let DH sleep. I usually do all the driving if we drive long distances and drove most of the way last time we drove to WDW- he gets sleepy at the wheel if he drives too much and definitely has to get his sleep at night. He can't be driving all night while everyone is sleeping like I did last time! LOL But I wasn't towing the TT then either...
Looks like we'll be driving thru your neck of the woods. LOL

Okay yeah I read more about that train and definitely doing trolley- that's the reason I wanted to do it on my own so if we wanted to get off- we could. I didn't like that DCL excursion made you just drive around and stay on the entire time!


Welcome to the group! I have a DD15, DS 11 (11.5 at time of cruise) and DD8 (turns 9 just a cpl weeks after the cruise- in June). Oh and we're about the same age... DH turns 43 in a few days, I turn 40 this summer after the cruise. LOL

So many here are in cat 12's (we have 2) it will be interesting as we get closer to see who gets upgraded and more importantly... who ends up on different decks or not.

Perhaps we will see one another on the road too!! We are leaving early on that Sat, actually arriving on the 24th. Don't know if I could manage driving a TT, good luck with that.

He is actually doing quite well, the afternoons are a bit hard on him though! Mostly b/c he is a stubborn man and won't take his pain medicine.

We actually lived in Arlington for a year while dh attended grad school in Fort Worth. Back before kids and all. Small world after all insn't is! I couldn't do big city life like that. We are basically in the Shreveport/Bossier area, but actually live just south of Bossier.

We are opting for the trolley for that exact reason. It makes no since to not be able to get on and off!!! We want to see the aquarium, lighthouse, southermost point and I want some Key Lime Pie!!

We had a 5:45 dining time last year on the Wonder. Had no prob. at all. It worked perfect for us, but we normally eat about 6:30 anyway.

Kayla